One day after Bears coach Matt Eberflus left open the possibility of benching Chase Claypool after a lackluster season debut, wide receivers coach Tyke Tolbert said he’s assuming that he’ll be on the active roster Sunday against the Buccaneers.
“He’s been practicing and taking all the normal reps,” Tolbert said Thursday.
Claypool missed blocks on screens and running plays during the 38-20 loss to the Packers on Sunday and had no catches on two targets. Tolbert said Claypool was frustrated with his own performance but that he was proud of how Claypool has practiced this week. He said Claypool has been the first receiver to report to the meeting room each day.
“Actually,” Tolbert said, “his attitude has been really good this week. I watched him practice [Wednesday and Thursday] — he hustled more than any receiver on the field [Thursday]. So that was improvement. And I tell guys every time: You play like you practice. He’s practicing that way, so I’m hoping he’ll play that way.”
For a second consecutive day, Claypool did not speak to the media after practice.
Gordon to IR
The Bears put cornerback Kyler Gordon on injured reserve after he hurt his right hand against the Packers. He had testing done on the hand — which was bandaged and put in a splint before the game ended — this week.
To take his place on the roster, the Bears promoted practice-squad cornerback Greg Stroman. To take his place in the lineup, the Bears could turn to Josh Blackwell in the slot, but he missed practice with a hamstring problem suffered Sunday.
Gordon, a 2022 second-round pick out of Washington, is eligible to return after missing four games.
Getsy encourages Aaron
Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy was getting ready to go to bed Monday night when he saw an update from the Jets’ postgame news conference: Quarterback Aaron Rodgers was presumed to have an Achilles injury. It was a blow to Getsy, who also happens to be one of Rodgers’ good friends from their days together in Green Bay.
“That’s the unfortunate part of our game,” Getsy said. “Just sent a message [to Rodgers] saying, ‘Man, you’ll come back better than ever.’ ”
Safety Eddie Jackson said he felt “sick” for Rodgers. It brought back memories, too — Jackson suffered a season-ending injury at the same place, MetLife Stadium, last year.
“I know it’s a longtime rivalry,” he said. “But you still don’t want to see players go down, especially somebody like Aaron Rodgers. I was kind of excited for him and to see how he was going to do in New York, too.”
This and that
Defensive coordinator Alan Williams was not at Halas Hall because of what the team called personal reasons.
u Tight end Marcedes Lewis, 39, had a veteran rest day.
u Linebacker Dylan Cole, signed to be a special-teams ace, practiced in full for the first time since last month after recovering from a hamstring injury.
