Chicago Bears: Injury bug plaguing defense down home stretch

The Chicago Bears’ injury concerns hit the defense hard. They welcome in one player, lose another, and hope that a third comes back.

After things looked bleak, the Chicago Bears got themselves back on the winning track. They won three games in a row and four of their last five. While all that is good, the fact of the matter is that their earlier struggles still have them on the outside looking in on the playoffs. They still need to win their final three games and get some help from other teams for them to make it to the postseason.

Winning out is a difficult task but now something is making it even more difficult — the injury bug. Defensive tackle Akiem Hicks missed most of the season, linebacker Danny Trevathan, the team’s second-leading tackler, missed the last four weeks with a dislocated elbow, and cornerback Prince Amukamara missed last week’s game against the Dallas Cowboys because of a hamstring injury. Don’t even ask about the injuries on offense.

The Bears face the hated Green Bay Packers this week. You know that no matter what the situation, Chicago wants to beat Green Bay. Add in the desperation of having to win and this should be a big battle.

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The Bears welcome back Hicks for the game. His presence greatly helps the Bears. With him on the line, opposing offenses cannot key in on linebacker Khalil Mack. Without Hicks, Mack receives all the attention. He has to run through double and triple teams. It’s obvious that having linebacker Leonard Floyd on the other side hasn’t helped Mack. Floyd isn’t attracting any attention to give Mack some relief. Hopefully, Hicks brings back the attention to help Mack.

Just when the Bears welcome back a key part of the defense, they lose another one. Early in the game against the Cowboys, linebacker Roquan Smith, the team’s leading tackler, went down with a pectoral injury. The team found out later that it was a pectoral tear and that he needs surgery. His season is over.

Kevin Pierre-Louis stepped in for Smith and did a terrific job. We have to see if he continues that the rest of the season, however.

Nick Kwiatkowski stepped up when Trevathan went down. He’s done an admirable job as his replacement, recording 35 tackles (three for loss), a sack, an interception and three passes defended. You can’t ask for much more from him. No, he isn’t the player Trevathan is, but the defense is still performing well and a lot of it is because of Kwiatkowski.

Now, there is a chance that Kwiatkowski could help off the bench again (or move over to Smith’s spot). Surprisingly, the Chicago Bears didn’t put Trevathan on injured reserve when he got injured. It was a gruesome-looking injury at first look. The elbow bent where it shouldn’t have and it looked like his season was definitely over. So when there wasn’t an injured reserve designation, it seemed odd.

Nagy hasn’t shed much light on the Trevathan situation but leaves the door open for a return this season, possibly even this week against the Packers, per Bears Wire:

"“I don’t know that for sure yet.”"

With Smith’s absence, having Trevathan back would be great. He’s one of the team’s leaders on and off the field. Pierre-Louis and Kwiatkowski played well, but the defense needs either Smith or Trevathan playing.

I’m not sure if Trevathan comes back, however. This could be some gamesmanship going on, though. It could be a ploy by the Bears to have the Packers prepare for Trevathan’s return. It’d be great to see him return against their hated rivals, however.

For now, let’s just hope these injuries don’t keep the Chicago Bears from finishing the season on a strong note, even if they don’t make the playoffs.