With playoff hopes gone, Bears refocus on strong finish to 2019

Defensive lineman Akiem Hicks looked like he was done for the day, if not the season, when he walked off the field in obvious pain, his rehabilitated left arm immobile and dangling, after trying to tackle Packers running back Aaron Jones early in the fourth quarter Sunday at Lambeau Field.

But after the Bears drove for a touchdown to cut Green Bay’s lead to 21-13, Hicks was back on the field for the Packers’ next possession with 8:08 left. In fact, on the first play of the drive, Hicks beat Packers center Corey Linsley and pressured Aaron Rodgers on an incompletion.

Hicks not only finished the game but said he expects to finish the season despite his obvious discomfort after aggravating the dislocated elbow he suffered Oct. 6 against the Raiders in London. And even with the Bears out of playoff contention after the 21-13 loss to the Packers, coach Matt Nagy confirmed that he is on board with that plan if all goes well with Hicks this week.

“We want to continue to just keep going forward with him like we’ve been,” Nagy said Monday at Halas Hall. “I don’t look at [being out of playoff contention] as changing anything with that.”

With nothing on the line for the team, it doesn’t appear prudent to put an obviously ailing Hicks back on the field and risk further injury that might hamper him in 2020. But Nagy — a classic players’ coach — will be considering Hicks’ love for the game as well as advice from general manager Ryan Pace and Bears medical personnel before making a decision on whether Hicks will play against the Chiefs on Sunday night at Soldier Field.

“We’ve gotta talk through all that, and I think that’s the biggest thing — making sure that we’re all on the same page,” Nagy said. “But I know Akiem’s gonna want to be out there playing and helping our defense as much as he can.”

Hicks has more than earned that respect in his four years with the Bears, including the last two with Nagy. And his performance Sunday — he had four tackles and two quarterback hits — made a huge impression on Nagy. Even at 75 or 80 percent, Hicks plays like he’s 100 percent.

“He was unbelievable,’’ Nagy said. ‘‘I thought he played lights-out. Even fighting through the aggravations of the injury throughout the game, the way he played and the plays he made [against the Packers], that was fun to watch. We missed that.”

Nagy also will have decisions to make on other injured players — cornerback Prince Amukamara (hamstring), inside linebacker Danny Trevathan (elbow), right tackle Bobby Massie (ankle), defensive end Roy Robertson-Harris (foot) and wide receiver Taylor Gabriel (concussion).

Amukamara (28 snaps) split time with Kevin Toliver (31) against the Packers — a rotation necessitated by Amukamara’s injury, not his performance, Nagy said. The other injured players did not play against the Packers.

Nagy, in fact, said he will not approach the last two games of the regular season any differently with the Bears (7-7) out of playoff contention. The Bears, who went 12-4 and lost to the Eagles in a wild-card playoff game last season, have a chance for back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2005 (11-5) and 2006 (13-3).

“I really am looking forward to our team playing really hard these last two games,’’ Nagy said. ‘‘We can do that. So my message to the guys is, ‘We’re rolling. There’s nothing that changes.’ It stinks that we can’t get to the playoffs, but that’s on us. We made this. Hopefully we learn from it and remember this feeling. But these next two games, to us, are very important, and we’re gonna play them hard.”