This is arguably the most battered the Bears have been under coach Matt Nagy — the entire starting defensive line is injured, among other problems — and one of the most significant concerns is the knee injury that forced defensive tackle Akiem Hicks out of their win over the Redskins on Monday.
The upside for the Bears is that it seems more like wear and tear than something he sustained directly from a play in their win over the Redskins.
The downside is that those types of issues tend to persist.
“He just got a little bit sore,” Nagy said. “I think he’ll be OK. ... I don’t think it’s anything serious.”
That probably sets up for Hicks to be limited in practice all week and listed as questionable for the game against the Vikings on Sunday, but he’s the type to gut it out if possible. Hicks has started 52 straight games since joining the Bears in 2016.
He was a Pro Bowler last season and has one sack, one fumble recovery and four tackles. He played 79 percent of the defensive snaps over the first two weeks.
The Bears went without defensive end Bilal Nichols (broken hand) and needed nose tackle Eddie Goldman to play through an oblique injury against Washington.
Next on the list is kicker Eddy Pineiro, who played through a pinched nerve in his right knee and said he felt it on every kick. He made all four extra points and went 1 for 1 on field goals, missing from 44 and making from 38.
The Bears plan on him being available Sunday, but they’re monitoring him closely.
“If he can’t go or he can’t kick, then we’ll come up with a solution for it,” said Nagy, who floated going for two-point conversions among other ideas. “It does make it a little bit more challenging if you’re in that fourth-and-medium range and you don’t know whether to kick a 35-yard field goal based off it, but he came out and felt pretty good.”
The Bears had punter Pat O’Donnell do kickoffs Monday, and he is their emergency kicker. O’Donnell said he practiced field goals out to 40 yards last week and works on it once or twice a month.
The most troubling of the Bears’ health concerns could be right tackle Bobby Massie coming down with vertigo Monday. They realized about two hours before the game that he couldn’t play, and there’s no telling how long he’ll be out. The plan is to stick with Cornelius Lucas III for the interim.
And then there’s wide receiver Taylor Gabriel. He was the star Monday with three touchdown catches and 75 yards, but left the game with a concussion. He’ll be in the NFL’s protocol until he’s cleared, and that process is fairly unpredictable.
