The Chicago Bears are on the road after starting the season 0-1. A loss at home puts them in a spot where they must win this game. An injury to their starting cornerback, Kyler Gordon, is not going to help that. Gordon has a hand injury and is unlikely to play in this game.
The Chicago Bears need Josh Blackwell or Kyler Gordon to be healthy
The Chicago Bears should be throwing Josh Blackwell into the mix, and Blackwell started a couple of games for the team down the stretch last season. However, Blackwell is also on the injury report with a hamstring injury. Blackwell missed a lot of time this offseason as well and was questionable to even suit up in week one. He did and ended up playing ten snaps, possibly re-injuring himself.
If the team does not have Blackwell, they may have to call up Greg Stroman from the practice squad to start. This is an obvious issue but would be extrapolated against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That is because of Chris Godwin.
Godwin is the starting slot wide receiver for the Buccaneers. He has run 57.9% of his routes in the slot, per PFF. Last season that number was up at 73%. The Bucs only played Godwin in the slot for 45.7% of the snaps in week one, but it is obvious that they will be shifting him back inside for this matchup.
This is going to test the Chicago Bears. If Blackwell plays, this is a player who has limited experience and was a UDFA. He will be limping in with a bad hamstring to take on one of the best receivers in the NFL. If it is not him, it is a practice squad player. This is going to be a major test for the Chicago Bears.
The good news is that the rest of the secondary is the strength. Still, that is why the Bucs will be inclined to put Godwin in the slot for this specific matchup. The bad news is that the pass rush will not help the weakness in the slot at all. This development will be the biggest thing to follow, and if whoever starts in the slot can step up, it will keep the Chicago Bears in the game.