Bears nose tackle Eddie Goldman is listed as doubtful and not expected to play against the Bengals on Sunday because of a knee injury.
“There’s still a chance, but it’s slim,” coach Matt Nagy said.
Goldman, who opted out of the 2020 season because of coronavirus concerns, did not play in the Bears’ season opener against the Rams and did not practice this week. Seventh-round rookie Khyiris Tonga and starting defensive end Bilal Nichols, who filled in for Goldman last week, figure to do so again if Goldman can’t play.
Nagy was more optimistic about left tackle Jason Peters, who suffered a quad injury against the Rams and played 32 of the Bears’ 69 offensive snaps. Peters practiced Friday and is questionable for Sunday.
“We feel pretty good with him,” Nagy said.
Elijah Wilkinson “is ready to go” if Peters cannot play, with Alex Bars also a possibility. Fifth-round rookie left tackle Larry Borom, who replaced Peters against the Rams, but suffered an ankle injury after 22 snaps, is out for Sunday and could be headed to injured reserve, which now is a minimum three-game absence.
Outside linebacker Robert Quinn (back), wide receivers Darnell Mooney (back), Marquise Goodwin (quad) and Nsimba Webster (hamstring) and linebacker Joel Iyiegbuniwe (shoulder) all practiced in full Friday and are questionable for Sunday’s game.
The Burrow Factor
The Bears will get their first look at Bengals second-year quarterback Joe Burrow, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2020 draft. Despite shoddy protection, Burrow has already shown signs of becoming an elite quarterback.
Last week against the Vikings, he was 3-for-5 for 15 yards and a 64.6 rating in his first three drives. After the Bengals fell behind 7-0, Burrow turned it up a notch — 12-for-13 for 170 yards, two touchdowns and a perfect 158.3 passer rating as the Bengals responded with three consecutive touchdown drives to take a 21-7 lead en route to a 27-24 overtime victory.
Burrow completed 20-of-27 passes for 261 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions for a 128.8 passer rating for the game. It was his third 100-plus rating in his last five starts dating to last season prior to suffering a season-ending torn ACL.
“They believe in him,” Bears linebacker Alec Ogletree said. “He can do pretty much anything that you ask him to do. He’s their guy. It definitely presents a challenge for us. But we have to take care of ourselves first and play our style of ball. If we do that, I think we’ll be fine.”
Staying clean
The Bears had three penalties against the Rams in their opener — the fewest for any road team in the NFL in Week 1. Tight end Cole Kmet had a false start. Defensive end Akiem Hicks was called for roughing the passer. And Ogletree was penalized for taunting.
The Bengals were beneficiaries of 12 Vikings penalties for 116 yards in their opening victory at Paul Brown Stadium and had the largest differential in penalty yardage (plus-101) in the league. The Vikings had five false starts, including three in their first seven snaps.
Oh captain, my captain
Nagy named quarterback Andy Dalton (offense), cornerback Jaylon Johnson (defense) and linebacker Christian Jones (special teams) as their captains for Sunday’s game. Dalton played nine seasons with the Bengals, making three Pro Bowls.
