It’s easy to make a case Roquan Smith has been the best defensive player for the Chicago Bears this season, and now it looks as if the team could enter the playoffs without him.
Smith left Sunday’s loss to the Green Bay Packers in the first quarter with a left elbow injury and did not return. A source told the Tribune the fear Sunday night was it was a dislocated elbow and a review of the All-22 film clearly shows his left arm bend the wrong direction from below the elbow.
Missing Smith against any opponent would be a significant loss, but playing without him against the New Orleans Saints in the wild-card round would be particularly difficult as the Bears need an answer for dangerous running back Alvin Kamara.
On Monday morning, coach Matt Nagy said he didn’t have any updates on the status of Smith or wide receiver Darnell Mooney, who left the game with an ankle injury. Nagy said the first update of the week would come when the team is required to release an injury report after Wednesday’s practice.
Smith is far and away the team’s leading tackler with 139 stops, including 99 solos and 18 tackles for loss. He added four sacks, two interceptions, seven passes defended, six quarterback hits, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. The Bears believe Smith was snubbed in the Pro Bowl selection process that saw Bobby Wagner of the Seattle Seahawks and Fred Warner of the San Francisco 49ers receive honors.
“You want to really know my reaction?” Nagy said. “I’m not going to give you my real reaction. Because I’m just not going to. I’ll leave it at that. I could go on and on about that one. I’m going to leave it just at that. This guy is an absolute stud, and for him to be left off is simply not right.”
Kamara finished third in the league in yards from scrimmage with 1,688 and is equally dangerous as a runner or receiver out of the backfield, complicating matters for defensive coordinator if Smith, the player with the best range in the team’s front seven, is absent. It’s of heightened concern because of the struggles fellow linebacker Danny Trevathan has had in coverage this season. He was exposed on Aaron Rodgers’ 72-yard touchdown pass to Marquez Valdes-Scantling whether by a mismatch or a blown assignment by someone else on the play.
In the Saints’ 26-23 overtime win over the Bears on Nov. 1, Kamara carried 12 times for 67 yards and caught nine passes (13 targets) for 96 yards. Smith led the Bears with 11 tackles with two for loss and one pass broken up in the game.
Josh Woods was used to replace Smith against the Packers and he made four tackles. Woods was caught out of position on a touchdown pass to tight end Dominique Dafney.
“We miss a great player because he fits this defense,” Trevathan said after the game. “Me and him, we practice together all the time, so I’m used to having him on that side. When he goes out, next-man mentality, but you still miss that voice. I’m confident in the LBs that we have, Josh and Iggy (Joel Iyiegbuniwe), and just communication is going to be a big part between us. And we’re going to work that. We do a great job, trying to spend as much time as I am now with them.”
