Chicago Bears: Should Kyle Long be shut down for rest of season?

With the season going downhill, the Chicago Bears would be wise to shut Kyle Long down for the year so he can heal all of his injuries.

The injury history of Chicago Bears guard Kyle Long could be written on a list from here to Timbuktu. It’s unfortunate, but Long simply cannot stay healthy. In his five-year career, the three-time Pro Bowler has started all 16 games only twice. However, Long often plays in games even if he’s hurt, a credit to his toughness and passion for the game. It takes a pretty serious injury to force him to miss a game, but in the past two seasons, these more serious injuries are starting to pile up.

Last offseason, Long needed surgery on both his ankle and shoulder. Unable to get both at the same time, Long decided to have ankle surgery and hope his shoulder healed on his own. However, in a worst-case situation, Long had complications with the ankle surgery and his shoulder did not (nor has not) healed completely. Long was unable to participate in much of training camp and the preseason, and these two injuries have carried over into this season.

Long’s bad luck doesn’t end there, however. In the Week 8 game versus the New Orleans Saints, he hurt his finger and was forced to miss the rest of the game, in addition to last week’s meeting with Green Bay. The Bears keep injury information sealed up like they’re protecting Fort Knox, so no one really has any idea how severe Long’s finger injuries are. What we do know, though, is that it is yet another injury that has sidetracked a pretty stellar playing career.

For Long’s own sake, it’s probably time that Ryan Pace, John Fox and the Bears shut him down for the rest of the season. The Bears aren’t winning the Super Bowl this year, so there is really no reason to put Long’s future in any more jeopardy than it already is. By shutting him down early, Long can get a head start on any surgery that he might need on his ankle, shoulder, and/or fingers. If the Bears can jump-start this process, maybe Long will (finally) be healthy when the 2018 season begins.

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Long is a competitor and probably won’t like this idea, but it’s in the best interest for his future. Sure, it would be great to have Long blocking for Mitchell Trubisky this season, but if Long is less than 100 percent, is he really helping the team or hurting it? I, for one, would rather have a healthy backup playing guard rather than a 75 percent (or worse) Kyle Long out there playing with a bum shoulder, finger, and ankle. The Bears’ season is sunk, so might as well get Long out of there without doing any more harm.