Kickoff between the New Orleans Saints and Chicago Bears at a windy Soldier Field is almost an hour away, so both teams have reported their inactive lists following pregame warmups.
A couple of players were ruled out previously due to injuries and other absences. The Saints are running without three of their top four receivers, including starting wideouts Michael Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders, as well as starting right guard Nick Easton (still battling concussion symptoms after exiting Oct. 12’s win over the Chargers). The breakout star of last week’s victory against the Panthers, Marquez Callaway, was also ruled out after suffering a minor ankle injury in the game’s closing minutes.
Meanwhile, the Bears won’t have Pro Bowl center Cody Whitehair snapping the ball to Nick Foles during the afternoon. He exited their loss to the Rams last Monday night with a calf injury, which kept him out of practice throughout the week. But they will welcome the return of No. 1 wide receiver Allen Robinson after he cleared concussion protocol on Saturday.
Here’s the full breakdown of inactive players for both sides:
From the Saints
- WR Michael Thomas (hamstring)
- WR Marquez Callaway (ankle)
- OL Nick Easton (concussion)
- WR Emmanuel Sanders (COVID-19 reserve)
- CB Ken Crawley
- S DJ Swearinger
- OL Derrick Kelly
- DL Malcolm Roach
From the Bears
- OL Cody Whitehair (calf)
- WR Ted Ginn Jr.
- DB Duke Shelley
- RB Artavis Pierce
- WR Riley Ridley
- LB Travis Gipson
