Ryan Poles Shares Frustration With Kyler Gordon Injury

One huge piece of news that has come out around the Chicago Bears recently is the injury to Kyler Gordon. 

Starting with last season, Gordon only played in three games. As Clay Harbor noted on X, “Kyler Gordon missed 14 games in 2025 and had two stints on injured reserve with groin, hamstring and calf injuries.”

To see a player with that injury history receive this kind of update is not good at all. Brad Biggs on X quoted Ryan Poles saying that, "Obviously, he's frustrated. We're frustrated. Everybody here is putting (their) time and effort to getting him back."

It's understandable to see why Poles would be frustrated, as the season hasn't started yet and the Bears are already dealing with an injury to a key player of this defense. It just gets worse when you add in the past context.

With that being said, Courtney Cronin of ESPN explains that, “Gordon will begin camp on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list as he rehabs from a calf injury that sidelined him from OTAs and minicamp.”

While there’s still plenty of time for Gordon to recover and come back before Week 1, there’s also a lot of unknown around this situation. 

Kyler Gordon Past Production 

Before 2025, Gordon never had an issue staying on the field for a large chunk of the season. In 2022, Gordon had played in 14 games, then 13 in 2023, 15 in 2024, and last year was when we saw him in just three games.

Going all the way back to 2022, Gordon had three interceptions, 71 tackles and six passes defended as a rookie. Then in 2023, Gordon had two interceptions, 61 tackles and six passes defended once again.

The last time we saw a large sample size out of Gordon was in 2024, where he wasn’t able to record an interception, but he had five passes defended and 75 tackles. 

Bears fans could agree that Gordon hasn't necessarily been a star, but he’s still been a good player to have. ESPN lists Gordon as the starting nickel cornerback for 2026. 

Despite Gordon not being a huge star, seeing a player hit the PUP list that’s expected to start for you in 2026 is not what you want.