Bulls News: Eberflus provides injury updates on Jenkins, Brisker and Jackson |
CHICAGO - We have not even reached the third week of the preseason, and there are a lot of injury updates that Matt Eberflus provided today. The most important of those is regarding offensive lineman Teven Jenkins. It was reported Monday that he had suffered a strained calf in both legs.
Eberflus would not comment on the type of injury, but it is more severe than the other injuries. “It’s a week-to-week issue,” Eberflus stated on Jenkins. “It’s bigger than day-to-day, and that’s all we’re going to disclose at this time.” Defensively, there have also been some minor injuries. Starting safeties Eddie Jackson and Jaquan Brisker have been dealing with injuries that have limited them in practice. However, since they are day-to-day, there are currently no concerns about their status for the season opener. “Eddie got rolled up on in the practice, you know. So, he’s walking around fine, so he’ll be back. He’s a day-to-day guy, and we’ll see when he comes back,” Eberflus said. “Brisker’s working through some stuff as well, and those guys are getting all the walk-throughs. We feel confident in where they are.” Given the injuries mounting up, there are concerns about if the Bears will be at full strength for the beginning of the season. Even if they are not, Eberflus is choosing to look on the bright side. With starters not currently being able to practice, some backups have been able to get more reps than they usually would. “You want to be at full health, obviously, at the start of the season, and we’re going to look at that, you know, (on) a day-to-day basis, but what this gives us is an opportunity to see different combinations, you know,” Eberflus explained. “We all know what we would like to have the starting lineup look like with the guys that we have, but, again, that’s going to change here over the course of the season.” Defense is still the primary concern for Chicago, even with the additions. While the first week of the preseason was a step in the right direction, with a total of eight sacks, the highest of any team. It is a promising start, but as Eberflus explained, there are still things to figure out strategically. “There’s a lot of things to be figured out yet with that position in terms of how many guys we have for the game, you know, who’s going to be up for the game and then what our combinations are for pass rush, passer rushers on the pass rushing downs,” Eberflus stated. One late piece the Bears added to help alleviate this problem was defensive end and pass rusher Yannick Ngakoue. Ngakoue has played in the NFL for seven years, accruing 65 sacks over that period. He is currently considered day-to-day but is making progress and should be able to start against the Green Bay Packers in Week 1. “We’ll see where he goes the rest of this week. I feel good about where he is, you know. His conditioning level looks to be getting better. His endurance is getting better, and, you know, he’s just learning our defense. Like we said, it’s not a far stretch for him to learn our defense because he’s been in a similar scheme, in that four-down scheme, the past couple of places he’s been.” The season will officially start for the Chicago Bears on Sunday, September 10, when they take on their rivals, the Packers, in Soldier Field (3:25 p.m./FOX).
