Eberflus on offensive line injuries, decision on Tyrique Stevenson’s punishment |
CHICAGO—Chicago fans were hurt by the Bears’ 18-15 Hail Mary loss to the Washington Commanders this past Sunday.
Besides the crushing Hail Mary and actions from cornerback Tyrique Stevenson, Chicago came out of this game with a plethora of injuries. “(Edge rusher Montez Sweat)’s working through that and we’re hopeful on that one. We’ll see where it goes. (Safety Jaquan) Brisker and (cornerback Kyler) Gordon, again, we’ll see where that goes this week. Those guys have been out for a couple weeks now, but we’ll see where that goes leading into tomorrow. (Offensive lineman) Kiran (Amegadjie) had the calf. It doesn’t look like he’s going to get back with talk,” head coach Matt Eberflus said. “(Offensive lineman) Braxon Jones, knee. We’ll see where that goes. It’s something that he’s working through, but that looks, we’ll see where that is and then (offensive lineman Teven Jenkins). Teven was limited today and then (offensive lineman) Larry Borom was full and then the windows opened up for (offensive lineman) Ryan Bates. So, that’s a good thing for us too.” The common trend with these injuries is offensive linemen. In addition, offensive lineman Bill Murray was put on injured reserve (IR) this week, which guarantees that we will be out for at least the next four games. Saying the Bears have offensive line issues is putting it mild. Before the injuries, they have struggled throughout the season to protect rookie quarterback Caleb Williams. However, Eberflus’ comments do not appear to indicate that Chicago will be looking to trade for anyone, as he stated they were sticking “with the guys that have been in there.” “In terms of the o-line depth, we’ll stay with the guys that have been in there. They’ve done a good job. We did a nice job of running the ball,” Eberflus said. “Really a solid job by the o-line and the offensive staff across training those guys as you saw in the last game, being able to plug and play those guys as we go through that.” After Stevenson’s conduct on the hail mary play that ultimately cost Chicago the game, there was a lot of speculation as to whether Stevenson would face a team-imposed suspension. Eberflus has preached about the importance of discipline ever since he became Chicago’s head coach. Despite Stevenson’s clear lack of discipline, it does not appear that he will face a suspension, although Eberflus did not confirm that. “Tyrique’s made a lot of plays for this group and for our defense and for our football team over the last couple years and he’s going to continue to do that. So, we’re behind Tyrique and we’re with him all the way and again, we’ll work through this as we go,” Eberflus said. “I’m not going to talk about who’s starting, who’s not starting, all those things. Those conversations we had together individually one-on-one … The consequences for things are we (lost) the game and it’s important that we now focus on Arizona and again, it was hard. No doubt. And again, we’re moving on to Arizona and I think it’s important that everybody does that and that’s my job as a head coach, to get this group to move on to the preparation for the Arizona game.” Both the Chicago Bears and Arizona Cardinals come into this game with four wins. However, their situations could not be more different. While the Cardinals are tied for first in their division, the Bears are alone in last place in the most difficult division in the league. That is part of why Sunday’s game against the Cardinals (3:05 p.m. / CBS) is so important for Chicago as they need this victory in order to stay competitive in the NFC North. “It’s a big week for us. (Arizona’s head coach) Jonathan Gannon’s done a good job of turning that thing in the last four games. He’s three and one in the last four games just like we are and he’s an outstanding coach,” Eberflus said. “I had a chance to coach with him at the Colts and it’s been really good. He’s done a really good job there and he’s a hack of a man and a really good leader.”
