Chicago Bears lose key hope for pass-rush for 8 to 10 weeks

The Chicago Bears had a worrisome development on Monday, the first day of training camp that the team had pads on during practice.

Safety Coby Bryant, who the Bears signed to a three-year $40 million deal in free agency, had to be carted off the practice field after suffering an injury. He appeared emotional when being carted off the field, which wasn’t a promising sign for Bryant, per Adam Hoge of CHGO Bears.

Per an update by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Bryant suffered a hyperextended knee, bone bruise, and small fracture that is expected to keep him out for eight to 10 weeks.

“Bears safety Coby Bryant is expected to be sidelined 8-10 weeks due to a hyperextended knee, bone bruise, and small fracture that he suffered at today’s practice, per sources,” Schefter wrote. “No surgery is expected to be needed.”

That timeline would put Bryant’s return to sometime in October.

The Bears signed Bryant and drafted safety Dillon Thieneman in the first round after losing Kevin Byard III, Jaquan Brisker, Jonathan Owens, and C.J. Gardner-Johnson this offseason.

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The injury to Bryant is troublesome as the Bears were counting on a better secondary as a way to fix an anemic pass rush after the team chose not to make significant upgrades on the defensive line after having one of the worst pass-rushes last season.

“There’s a lot been made of the pass rush, right?” Allen said last week. “There’s no example of team defense that it’s better exemplified than in pass defense. Because I don’t care how good your pass rush is, if [defensive backs] don’t cause the quarterback to have to reset or get to his second or third read, you’re not getting to him.

“And I don’t care how good your coverage is, if you can’t get to the quarterback and disrupt him, they’re going to throw completions. So, I think we’ve got to get better at pass defense, all right? And I think that’s both elements working together. And so I think that’s what our focus is.”

With Bryant out, the Bears’ hope of a pass-rush takes a big hit for the early part of the season.

Per Courtney Cronin of ESPN, the Bears have a problem in the secondary brewing at this point in training camp with Kyler Gordon and Bryant out.

“The ripple effect created by Coby Bryant’s injury is what’s most concerning,” Cronin wrote. “Cam Lewis was getting most of his reps at nickel in place of Kyler Gordon and shifted to safety after Bryant went down today.

“The Bears are extremely thin on the back line of their defense and will need yet another contingency plan for a secondary dealing with multiple injuries to starters.”

Chicago is going to need to look for outside help, though it remains to be seen if the team will address the secondary or defensive line first.

The post Chicago Bears lose key hope for pass-rush for 8 to 10 weeks appeared first on ChiCitySports.