Chicago Bears: 3 Losers from Week 6 vs. Packers

Chicago Bears Week 6 Loser No. 2: Duke Shelley

Where was Duke Shelley yesterday? Marqui Christian and Xavier Crawford saw multiple reps at slot cornerback as Shelley was not seen much, if at all, throughout the game. He was not listed on the injury report and nothing came up before the game. Maybe Sean Desai is trying something new, or maybe they felt the best matchups were with Christian and Crawford, although it does not make a lot of sense.

Shelley has been off and on this year. He is not the greatest in coverage, but his tackling does make up for his weaknesses in that area. He had been looking a little better as of late, but still not where the Bears need him to be. The slot cornerback is a very important position in the secondary because of how many targets a slot receiver usually gets. While Jaylon Johnson was shadowing Davonte Adams for most of the game, even in the slot, we saw some big completions over the middle against names like Crawford and Christian.

The Bears cornerback group is not much outside of Johnson and maybe Kindle Vildor. Shelley was supposed to be the “veteran” of the bunch after Desmond Trufant was cut, but his playing time has been in question after the game versus the Packers. It is not a good look to end up with a DNP coach’s decision next to your name on the scorecard.

The Bears struggled to contain the Packers through the air, and while there were not a lot of yards given up, the coverage was nothing to write home about. Maybe Shelley would have played better if given the chance, but after the start to the year that he had, it is easy to understand why he might be benched. It will be interesting to see what happens with him going forward.