Yardbarker
x

After taking the opt-out due to COVID-19, perhaps irony has found someone to pick on in Eddie Goldman.

The Bears put Goldman on the reserve COVID-19 list on Tuesday, as he missed the team's first padded practice at Soldier Field for family fest. They get a break now as they have a day off before resuming practice Thursday at Halas Hall.

The loss of their nose tackle isn't even a huge concern at this point because they know he'll be back, but the injuries the Bears have at other positions have begun to border on troubling.

Edge rusher Robert Quinn went back to the sidelines with a back issue, which has plagued him since camp started, while safety Tashaun Gipson and cornerback Artie Burns sat out with quad muscle injuries and defensive back Michael Joseph missed with a hamstring.

The worst situation remains at tackle. Left tackle Teven Jenkins hasn't practiced. On Tuesday, the Bears tried something different. Instead of putting Elijah Wilkinson at the spot, they put fifth-round draft pick Larry Borom in with the first team.

"You know, I think that for him he's a big guy," Nagy said. "He lost a lot of weight after, in this offseason and that's a credit to him. I like his footwork. I think he's really light-footed for being such a big man.

"I don't know if he can play left tackle. That's why we're trying to put him there, to see. It's not easy when you go from the right side to the left side but I think now is the time to see really what he can do. It would be pretty cool to see that you find out, you draft a guy in the fifth round and then you end up having a guy that can can do some big things for us so we're going to test him out."

Borom, who came in around 331 pounds, is a right tackle/right guard but did play some left tackle at Missouri.

At this point, the Bears don't have a lot of choices among free agents. Later it could change when rosters are trimmed across the league.

"Again, yeah, I don’t know, I just know the guys we have on this team right now, they're the guys I believe in," Nagy said.

Asked if the Jenkins injury was a matter of days or weeks until he is able to play, Nagy said, "Probably in the middle, whatever that means.

"Honestly, I don't know. All's I can say is I feel like the arrow is, every day, it's getting a little bit better. It's not going the other way. So we've just gotta be smart."

When Jenkins does return it will be a matter of limited participation at first, just going through individual work, then a few reps, "...and we'll slowly get him in," Nagy said. "And then we've gotta see how he's feeling."

The pairing at the tackles of second-year player Lachavious "Pig" Simmons on the right side and Borom at left tackle is totally raw. Simmons was around last year but didn't play in a game. When the edge rusher group includes Khalil Mack and/or Quinn, it can be disruptive for the offense.

So Nagy said the edge rushers more or less are pulling their punches when they go against such inexperienced players so the offense can have he benefit of getting off play repetitions.

"I think the good thing is that Khalil and Robert both understand that and they know that," Nagy said. "So if they do beat somebody off the edge, they put a crazy spin move on or do whatever they pull off, they're smart enough to let the play still go on."

The Bears can always provide blocking help for the tackles if they want to limit their potential pass targets at running back or tight end.

"But at the same point in time, if we want to do this thing the right way we got to be able to understand that there are times where they got to wear the hard hat and they got to block one-on-one," Nagy said. "If we're not chipping, we're not helping, it's going to be evident and obvious. If they can't (block one-on-one), they won’t be there."

The Quinn injury remains a nagging problem, although earlier talk had said he'd be limited and he came out and practiced well at full speed.

"Well that's definitely for us, it's a huge point of emphasis," Nagy said. "We want to get that right. I mean, when you have those two guys (Mack and Quinn) coming off the edge with the experience that they have we really want and need that this year. So how do we get to that point?"

It's going to be a case of managed care.

The outlook on Cohen's rehabbed ACL tear is less than glowing. Nagy said it's a matter of their third-down or change-up back being weeks away from competing. Damien Williams continues to take the second-team running back snaps. 

This article first appeared on Bear Digest and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads:

Customize Your Newsletter

+

Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.