Eberflus provides injury updates on Gordon, Brisker, Stevenson |
CHICAGO—Playing in perhaps the most difficult division in the NFL, the Chicago Bears must keep up with everyone else. In their dominant 35-16 victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars in London this past Sunday, the Bears proved they can do exactly that.
They are now back in Chicago and on their bye week. Given their injuries, this is a very opportune time for them to return home. “(Cornerback Kyler Gordon)’s getting image done this morning. So, we don’t have that back yet. So we don’t know the severity of that. So, we’ll figure that out as we go. But, we’re hopeful. We’re fortunate that the bye week is here and we have some extra time and that’s no different with (safety Jaquan) Brisker. Brisker is dealing with that concussion still and we’ll see where that is later today,” head coach Matt Eberflus said. “(Long snapper Scott) Daly, we’re getting his image done right now. So, we’ll see where that long snapper is as well and (cornerback) Tyrique (Stevenson). Tyrique’s another guy that we’re looking at and we’re hopeful for because we have the bye week. We have some time and we hope those guys heal and get the rehab they need to get back in there as soon as possible.” Chicago’s secondary stepped up in a big way with the injuries to Brisker, Gordon, and Stevenson. Tight end Cole Kmet also stepped up as the backup long snapper. The Bears did not punt while he was in. When they were kicking extra points, Kmet had a few snaps that were high, but they were all successful. “It’s pretty dramatic when you lose your short and long snapper. It’s an important part (of) scoring points and obviously getting the punts off. So, there was definitely a lot of talk … (Kmet) practices it every Thursday. After practice, he gets with those guys for the long and short snaps and he does a good job. He’s solid in there,” Eberflus said. “I know (he’s) always concerned that he has to do that and thankfully, (Sunday) we didn’t punt again after the injury. So, we were good. He was good (in) there and my hats off to him and he had a really good game (Sunday) in terms of his connections - five for five, two touchdowns. But, him being able to do that as well was instrumental in the victory.” All of these players stepping up show one of this team's strengths—its mentality. Everyone is ready to play, and the leaders on this team are incredibly vocal. When the offense was struggling, the offensive leaders went to offensive coordinator Shane Waldron to address it; Chicago has looked completely different ever since. Against the Jaguars, Eberflus was pleased with Waldron’s playcalling and his creativity with some of his plays, including Kmet’s first touchdown reception of the game. “I liked the fact that we got some explosives in there. We stayed committed to the run game. So, we stayed committed that way. That’s an important thing, to have balance, in this league because you can’t become one dimensional one way or the other and I also think that the explosive plays and some creativity, the creative play (to) Cole up the middle. I think that was really, really creative. I do like the way they responded to adversity when we got the penalty for two guys moving, third and five goes to third and nine I believe at the time and the play call there was really good relative to where we were on the field. So, a lot of good things going there,” Eberflus said. “He’s got a good flow going. The offensive staff is really doing a good job of providing a lot of ideas in that execution piece with their positions. But, I thought he called a really good game (Sunday).” Waldron and the rest of the team will have two weeks to prepare to play rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders on Sun. Oct. 27 (3:25 p.m./CBS). This will undoubtedly be a matchup between the top two rookie quarterbacks in the league and could be pivotal in deciding who wins Offensive Rookie of the Year.
