The Chicago Bears' last injury report for the week has a key defensive back returning to the secondary, as the Bears continue to get healthier ahead of the NFC Divisional Round against the Los Angeles Rams.
The Chicago Bears ' last injury report for the week has a key defensive back returning to the secondary, as the Bears continue to get healthier ahead of the NFC Divisional Round against the Los Angeles Rams.
CJ Gardner-Johnson was absent from last week's win over the Packers in the NFC Wild Card round. He suffered a concussion in the loss to Detroit in the final game of the regular season and didn't pass concussion protocol.Gardner-Johnson passed concussion protocol and was not given an injury designation on Friday. He's officially active for Sunday night's game against the Rams, which will be the third playoff run in a row where Gardner-Johnson has played Matthew Stafford.In 2023, Gardner-Johnson beat the Rams in the playoffs with the Detroit Lions. Last season, he beat the Rams as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles on the way to a Super Bowl championship. Now, he aims to make it three playoff wins in a row over the Rams with three different teams."Respectfully, that team's the same team," Gardner-Johnson said on Thursday. "They were younger last year. They're getting older, having a good year this year."Gardner-Johnson's return helps immediately because reserve defensive back Nick McCloud was ruled out with a groin injury. Kyler Gordon and CJ Gardner-Johnson will split time at the nickel cornerback position."Both of them will have a role, and we'll see how the game plays out," Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said. "But, we've got a plan in place for both those players to have a role in all down and distance situations."On offense, wide receiver Rome Odunze was listed as questionable with a foot injury. However, he was a full participant in Friday's practice which is a good sign that he'll play on Sunday night.One of the losses the Bears suffered last Saturday was a season-ending injury to rookie left tackle Ozzy Trapilo. In his place, Theo Benedet will play left tackle. However, Braxton Jones, who started at left tackle in Week 1 for the Bears, was activated off injured reserve. He'll be able to offer the Bears a veteran presence behind Benedet at left tackle."I thought last week he looked darn good in practice," Bears offensive line coach Dan Roushar said. "Mentally, he's in a good spot and he's ready to help us win."This is one of the lightest injury reports the Bears have had in a while.While no team at this point of the season is going to be 100 percent healthy, the Bears are going into Sunday night's game down just one player in McCloud.The Bears weathered the storm in terms of injuries, with Tremaine Edmunds, Jaylon Johnson, Tyrique Stevenson, Gordon and more missing time with injuries. Now, they've cleared the biggest injury challenges."It's been challenging to try to manipulate that a little bit," Allen said. "I do think each one of those opportunities they get to go out there, I think I've seen improvement out of each one of those. So, we'll continue to have a plan to try to put the best group out there that we can, that gives us a chance to have success."
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