Bears notebook: Matt Nagy sounds off on LB Roquan Smith being snubbed for Pro Bowl

No one should expect Bears wide receiver Allen Robinson to wax nostalgic about his return to Jacksonville.

Robinson began his career as a second-round pick with the Jaguars and somehow had 202 catches for 2,848 yards and 22 touchdowns in 43 games with Blake Bortles as his quarterback, but the team went 21-43 during his four seasons there before he signed with the Bears in 2018.

“I’m excited, for sure, but I wouldn’t say [it’s] anything significant at all,” Robinson said of the game Sunday.

When pressed, he said there was some good that came out of playing there.

“It helped me grow as a player a lot,” Robinson said. “I went through some adversity. . . . I think it helped mold me into who I am today and how I approach things and how I’m able to find consistency within myself and keep myself playing at a high level and also try to help the others around me to kind of bring up the level of play.”

Translation: He learned to be productive no matter how difficult his circumstances.

That lesson has served him well with the Bears. Despite playing with Mitch Trubisky and Nick Foles this season, Robinson is seventh in the NFL in catches (90), ninth in receiving yards (1,110) and third in catches of 20-plus yards (20). It’s his second straight 1,000-yard season in an offense in which little else has gone right.

Smith snubbed

As the Bears’ fan base seethed over the omission of inside linebacker Roquan Smith when the Pro Bowl rosters were announced Monday, coach Matt Nagy was right there with them. He did some serious self-editing when asked about Smith being left out.

“You want to really know my reaction?” Nagy said. “I’m not going to give you my real reaction. Because I’m just not going to. I’ll leave it at that.

“I could go on and on about that one. I’m going to leave it just at that. This guy is an absolute stud, and for him to be left off is simply not right.”

Smith is fifth in the NFL in tackles (128), second in solo tackles (90) and third in tackles for loss (17). He also has four sacks, five pass breakups and a forced fumble.

The Bears’ only Pro Bowl selections were outside linebacker Khalil Mack and special-teamer Cordarrelle Patterson.

Injury concerns

Nagy opted for a walk-through rather than the team’s typical Wednesday practice, but several players still weren’t able to participate: cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson (shoulder) and Buster Skrine (concussion), defensive lineman Akiem Hicks (ankle), safety Deon Bush (foot), tight end Demetrius Harris (foot) and Patterson (knee).

Johnson and Skrine missed the last game and seem unlikely to be back against the Jaguars.