Bears nose tackle Eddie Goldman is listed as doubtful and not expected to play Sunday against the Bengals because of a knee injury.
“There’s still a chance, but it’s slim,” coach Matt Nagy said.
Goldman, who opted out of the 2020 season because of coronavirus concerns, didn’t play in the season opener against the Rams and didn’t practice this week. Seventh-round rookie Khyiris Tonga and starting defensive end Bilal Nichols, who filled in for Goldman last week, figure to do so again if he can’t play.
Nagy was more optimistic about left tackle Jason Peters, who suffered a quadriceps injury against the Rams and played 32 of the Bears’ 69 offensive snaps. Peters practiced Friday and is questionable.
“We feel pretty good with him,” Nagy said.
Elijah Wilkinson “is ready to go” if Peters can’t play, with Alex Bars also a possibility. Fifth-round rookie left tackle Larry Borom, who replaced Peters against the Rams but suffered an ankle injury after 22 snaps, is out and could be headed to injured reserve, which means a minimum three-game absence.
Linebackers Robert Quinn (back) and Joel Iyiegbuniwe (shoulder) and wide receivers Darnell Mooney (back), Marquise Goodwin (quadriceps) and Nsimba Webster (hamstring) practiced in full and are questionable.
The Burrow Factor
The Bears will get their first look at Bengals second-year quarterback Joe Burrow, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 draft. Despite shoddy protection, Burrow already has shown signs of becoming an elite quarterback.
Last week against the Vikings, he was 3-for-5 for 15 yards and a 64.6 passer rating in his first three drives. After the Bengals fell behind 7-0, Burrow turned it up a notch — 12-for-13 for 170 yards, two touchdowns and a perfect 158.3 passer rating — as Cincinnati responded with three consecutive touchdown drives to take a 21-7 lead en route to a 27-24 overtime victory.
“They believe in him,” Bears linebacker Alec Ogletree said. “He can do pretty much anything that you ask him to do. He’s their guy. It definitely presents a challenge for us. But we have to take care of ourselves first and play our style of ball. If we do that, I think we’ll be fine.”
Staying clean
In the opener, the Bears had three penalties — the fewest for any road team in the NFL in Week 1. Tight end Cole Kmet had a false start, defensive end Akiem Hicks was called for roughing the passer and Ogletree was penalized for taunting.
The Bengals were the beneficiaries of 12 Vikings penalties for 116 yards in their opener at Paul Brown Stadium and had the largest differential in penalty yardage (plus-101) in the league.
The Vikings had five false starts, including three in their first seven snaps.
Oh, captain, my captain
Nagy named quarterback Andy Dalton (offense), cornerback Jaylon Johnson (defense) and linebacker Christian Jones (special teams) as captains for Sunday. Dalton played nine seasons with the Bengals.
