Eberflus provides injury updates, Owens to start at safety |
CHICAGO - There always seem to be some injuries plaguing the Chicago Bears this season. Only two players have been ruled out to this point - offensive lineman Ryan Bates with a concussion and safety Elijah Hicks with an ankle injury.
Offensive lineman Kiran Amegadjie and running back D’Andre Swift are listed on the injury report as questionable. However, head coach Matt Eberflus stated that wide receiver Keenan Allen is also questionable after suffering an ankle injury in practice Friday. “Injury-wise, we ruled Bates out, Hicks out for the concussion and ankle for this week. Keenan was added, rolled his ankle out there, so we pulled him partway through practice,” Eberflus said. “But, we don’t think it’s severe, and we’re hopeful for the game. So, that’s where that is and he’s listed right now as questionable. D’Andre Swift came back (Friday) in a limited fashion and he looked good out there. So, it’s good.” It is unclear how involved Swift was in practice on Friday. While Eberflus said he was limited, the official injury report states Swift was a full participant. Allen is currently not on the official injury report despite Eberflus saying he is questionable. With Hicks officially out against the Minnesota Vikings this coming Sunday (Noon / FOX), Chicago is now down to safeties since Jaquan Brisker remains on injured reserve (IR). Therefore, Jonathan Owens will start his first game as a Chicago Bear. Owens has ample experience as a starting safety, starting in 28 games over the past two seasons. “Jonathan’s doing a really good job in there and he started several games last year,” Eberflus said. “He’s familiar in terms of being in that role and he’s done a good job communicating with (safety) Kevin (Byard) across and everybody else in the secondary.” When facing a talented Minnesota Vikings offense with wide receiver Justin Jefferson, running back Aaron Jones, and quarterback Sam Darnold, who seems to have found a home in Minnesota, it is a bad time for Chicago to deal with injuries. On top of that, the Bears have struggled this season against the run. This includes running quarterbacks. While Darnold is typically not someone who is thought of as an elusive runner, he has shown that this can be a dangerous part of his game with the Vikings. Darnold had six scrambles in the past two weeks, more than he had all of last season with the New York Jets. “He scrambles a lot for first downs. He can get out of trouble and I think he’s really worked his body in terms of (body composition),” Eberflus said. (He) looks thinner and looks more athletic to me. So, I think he’s always done a good job of that, but doing a good job this year as well.” Minnesota also provides a challenge on the other side of the ball. Defensive coordinator Brian Flores is notorious for his blitz packages. Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams has not faced a defense that blitzes as much as the Vikings. Minnesota blitzes on 37.7 percent of dropbacks. The only comparable team Williams has faced is the Washington Commanders, who blitz on 30.8 percent of dropbacks. Williams had the lowest completion percentage of his NFL career in that game at 41.7 percent. Eberflus is not concerned about Williams facing Flores’ defense as he states Williams has grown every week. “Defensively, the Vikings create situations in terms of protection, fronts, (coverage) variation … I thought the guys did a really good job the last couple days and again perfecting the plan is an ongoing process and I told the guys that we’re going to have to have elite communication during the course of this game on offense and defense (and) the kicking (game) and always have our eyes forward as we move through the game,” Eberflus said. “I think (Williams)’ growing every week and this defense does give you some looks, different things, and I think that (the) manageable and effectiveness of (the) things that we have built in, the alerts that we have on those particular calls are I think are good and it’s about communication (and) execution.” One advantage the Bears have is that Minnesota only has one game of tape to evaluate how offensive coordinator Thomas Brown runs the Chicago offense. Last week against the Green Bay Packers, Brown’s offense was far more effective than the offense was under previous offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. So, film from those games is not as helpful. “You only can defend what you see and so, I think you can play off of those looks and do a good job of being creative and putting our guys in position to create their own plays in space,” Eberflus said. “I think that’s an important part of any game plan.”
