2026 Chicago Bears' Expectations Post Coby Bryant Injury Update

There’s no sugarcoating it, this is not great news in the slightest for Coby Bryant. When the first report about the Bryant injury came out, it was from Adam Schefter who posted this on X back on August 3rd:

“Bears safety Coby Bryant is expected to be sidelined 8-10 weeks due to a hyperextended knee, bone bruise and small fracture that he suffered at today’s practice, per sources. No surgery is expected to be needed.”

While that didn't seem too bad at the time, Schefter would come out with an injury update for Bryant on August 11th that was much worse. Here’s what he posted most recently on X:

“Bears S Coby Bryant underwent knee surgery and now will miss 4-6 months. Bears are hoping he can return for the playoffs.”

The Bears recently brought in Xavier Woods who I’m expecting to replace Bryant when he’s gone. However, I felt fine about Woods playing a few games in place of Bryant, but this timeline changes the whole equation. 

Updated 2026 Chicago Bears' Expectations

This won’t be what Bears fans want to hear, but this is a huge hit to the Bears' expectations for 2026. Following the NFL Draft I felt as if this roster stayed about the same. 

When taking into account the number of young players that will have another summer to develop, it felt like this team could even improve. After the Bryant injury update, it doesn’t seem right to have those same expectations.

On one side it’s not as if Bryant is the starting quarterback or the best player on this roster. The problem is that the Bears added Bryant to address a need at safety. 

On top of that, even if Bryant isn't the best player on this roster he’s still good. Last year Bryant had 66 tackles and four interceptions for the Seattle Seahawks.

The Bears clearly believe in Bryant as well, giving him a 40 million dollar deal over three years. 

With Bryant now out for these four to six months, I’m expecting the Bears to take a slight step back in the regular season or potentially have a very similar regular season to 2025, this year.

The good news about the injury is that Schefter mentioned how Bryant may be back for the playoffs, but even then there’s a lot of uncertainty even if he does play.

That’s not to say that Caleb Williams or other players can’t take much bigger steps than expected to help offset the loss. But at the same time, it’s going to be extremely tough for the Bears to take a step forward following this news.