The Bears could be getting help in the form of two injury replacement starters in the wild card round.
On Tuesday, the Chicago Bears announced that they have designated offensive tackle Braxton Jones and cornerback Kyler Gordon to return. Both have been members of the injured reserve, but are now allowed to practice with the team this week and could possibly play against the Green Bay Packers in the wild card round.
Jones began the year as the Bears’ starting left tackle, but he eventually lost that job to Theo Benedet, who eventually lost that job to second-round rookie Ozzy Trapilo. Trapilo was inactive in the Week 18 regular-season finale last week, when the starters played against the Detroit Lions with playoff seeding on the line for Chicago.
If Trapilo isn’t 100 percent, there’s a possibility that Jones, who has been on the IR with a knee injury since Week 8, could be a replacement starter.
Meanwhile, Gordon is on his second stint on the injured reserve this year. First, he went on IR from Weeks 8 through Week 12, before being activated to the 53-man roster in Week 13. He was then placed back on the injured reserve in Week 15.
The first trip on the IR for Gordon was due to a calf injury. His second stint was because of a groin injury he suffered during pregame warmups in Week 15.
Gordon has mostly been a nickelback for the Bears, which is important to keep in mind because Chicago’s starting slot, Chancey Gardner-Johnson, went down with a concussion in Week 18. So, like Jones, Gordon could actually become a replacement starter in the first round of the playoffs, depending on how this week goes.
If both Gordon and Gardner-Johnson can’t play, it will be Nick McCloud, a fifth-year player who has started just four games with the Bears and has been on three teams in the last two years, covering the Packers’ Jayden Reed.
Category: General Sports
