The Bears will get several key players back from the reserve/COVID-19 list heading into their last two games.
Wide receiver Allen Robinson, cornerback Jaylon Johnson and safety Tashaun Gipson tested negative and were cleared to return Monday after missing the last two games. The Bears also activated tight end Jesse James and running back Ryan Nall.
The Bears lost their starting secondary leading up to the Vikings game because of a coronavirus outbreak and cobbled together a defensive backfield with backups Duke Shelley, Kindle Vildor, Deon Bush, Teez Tabor and Thomas Graham.
The group was so depleted that position coach Deshea Townsend, 46, who played cornerback for 13 seasons, joked about filling in.
“It would’ve been fun to get a jersey, but the plays would’ve had to be from the 1-yard line,” Townsend said Monday. “I’ve got about 11 yards of coverage in me.”
The last two games are important for Robinson, 28, as he wraps up a frustrating season and heads into free agency. Between injuries and the virus, he has missed five games and has only 32 catches for 353 yards and a touchdown.
He’s on track for the least productive year of his career aside from 2017, when he missed almost all of the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, and it comes at the worst possible time financially. Robinson hoped to hit a big payday in free agency last season after putting up 2,397 yards and 13 touchdowns on 200 catches over 2019 and ’20, but the Bears retained him with the franchise tag for $17.9 million.
Injury updates
Coach Matt Nagy indicated there were no major developments injury-wise other than Tabor’s ankle problem being severe enough to warrant putting him on injured reserve. He’ll miss the rest of the season.
As far as left tackle Teven Jenkins, there will be an ongoing evaluation of the shoulder injury that forced him out of the game Sunday against the Seahawks after only three snaps. The Bears begin practicing Wednesday for the game against the Giants.
No news was good news as far as kicker Cairo Santos, who was examined after being knocked to the ground by Seahawks linebacker Tanner Muse but stayed in the game.
Quinn’s run
Bears outside linebacker Robert Quinn got his 17th sack, putting him one away from breaking Richard Dent’s franchise record, and it proved essential to the comeback victory.
Quinn dropped Russell Wilson for a 13-yard loss with 7:23 left to push the field goal back to a 39-yard attempt. And, sure enough, Jason Myers missed wide left, and the Bears stayed within a touchdown.
“You never know when that one play is going to [matter],” position coach Bill Shuey said. “It’s good for the young guys who are playing in that position room and in our defense to see that.”
