Bears speed rusher out for season, placed on IR |
Tough news for the Bears defense.
Head coach Matt Eberflus announced Wednesday during his press conference that speed rusher Yannick Ngakoue broke his ankle with seven minutes to go in the win against the Lions. "Just want to compliment him on him being a true pro all the way through," Eberflus said. "Really helped our young guys the entire year and just want really to credit him for that and I really appreciate him being a great teammate." Surgery will be required, and he has been placed on the injured reserve. Veteran DeMarcus Walker will likely return to his starting role with Ngakoue done for the year. “It’s really important for those guys to lean into the opportunity and have a vision for the opportunity and vision for the plays [they're] going to make," Eberflus said about players stepping up in Ngakoue's absence. "This is what the walk-through practice today is about—it's about guys visualizing themselves in the game plan, making plays in the game today and then moving forward, making the corrections and moving onto the next day." Ngakoue will now be an unrestricted free agent as he only signed a one-year deal ($10.5 million) with the Bears. He had four sacks, seven QB hits, and six TFLs on the season. However, the last four games he was starting to really produce with two sacks, three quarterback hits, and two tackles-for-loss. This is tough news for the Bears defense, but luckily, they traded for edge rusher Montez Sweat who hopefully can keep the pass rush going for the resurgent Bears defense. The Bears (5-8) face off against the Browns (8-5) on Sunday in Cleveland. This is just a really well-executed play. Wishing you a speedy recovery, @YannickNgakoue 🙏 pic.twitter.com/ksOfjBsiEj
Yannick Ngakoue gets the sack and shows off his power, but also look at the pop that Montez Sweat generates against the right guard.
In the secondary, Jaylon Johnson, Tyrique Stevenson and Kyler Gordon pass off and pick up the Lions'… pic.twitter.com/JKqUvTPNtL
