Bears activate Eddie Jackson from COVID-19 list, expect him to play Sunday

The Bears activated Eddie Jackson from the NFL’s reserve/COVID-19 list Friday, setting up the two-time Pro Bowl safety to play in Sunday night’s game against the Packers.

Jackson did not test positive for the coronavirus but was a close contact of someone outside Halas Hall that did. By NFL rule, he had to quarantine for five days — dating to his last contact with the infected person — before returning to the team. The Bears put him on the list Monday.

Because the Bears — and all NFL teams — are conducting all their meetings via Zoom, Jackson was able to participate, even if he didn’t practice on Monday, Wednesday or Thursday.

Earlier this month, Jackson talked about the realities of the coronavirus.

“It’s getting kind of scary,” he said. “The crazy thing about it is it affects everyone in different ways, so you never know how it may affect you different. But someone you’re close to or a relative or somebody else on the team, it might affect them totally different. . . .

“You see it getting outrageous. Especially in Chicago, you’ve just got to be more careful, man.”