Vikings at Bears: Initial injury reports

Grab a beverage. . .this one’s going to take a bit

With this week’s game between the Chicago Bears and your Minnesota Vikings not kicking off until Monday night, we had to wait an extra day for the first injury reports of the week. However, both teams have put out their initial reports, and the list for the home team is going to take some serious sorting out.

Here’s what we’ve got for today.

Minnesota Vikings

Did Not Participate

• LB Eric Kendricks (low back)
• WR Adam Thielen (ankle)

Limited Participation

• OT Christian Darrisaw (ankle)

Full Participation

• S Camryn Bynum (ankle)
• RB Dalvin Cook (shoulder)

The list for the Vikings is not terribly long, though it’s worth noting that Kendricks was out for Thursday’s session with another different injury. After dealing with issues with his hip and his biceps earlier in the year, he’s now dealing with a back injury. . .possibly from trying to carry this defense for most of the year. The Vikings are “hopeful” that Thielen can play on Monday, but obviously we won’t know anything until Saturday at the earliest, in all likelihood.

The Vikings also have three members of the 53-man roster on the COVID-19 list, along with three members of the practice squad:

• WR Dan Chisena
• OL Kyle Hinton (practice squad)
• WR Trishton Jackson (practice squad)
• RB Alexander Mattison (already ruled out for Monday night)
• RB A.J. Rose Jr. (practice squad)
• WR Dede Westbrook

In addition to that, the Vikings have several coaches that are out because of COVID protocols, including senior defensive assistant Paul Guenther and three members of the strength coaching team.

Here comes the Bears’ injury report. . .grab a beverage, it’s going to take you a while to get through it.

Chicago Bears

Did Not Participate

• DB Xavier Crawford (concussion)
• QB Andy Dalton (left hand)
• OL James Daniels (illness)
• WR Marquise Goodwin (foot)
• WR Jakeem Grant (illness)
• RB Khalil Herbert (illness)
• TE Jesper Horsted (illness)
• DB DeAndre Houston-Carson (forearm)
• OT Teven Jenkins (illness)
• TE Cole Kmet (illness)
• RB David Montgomery (illness)
• OT Jason Peters (ankle)
• DT Khyiris Tonga (shoulder/illness)

Limited Participation

• TE Jimmy Graham (knee)
• LB Roquan Smith (hamstring)

Full Participation

• QB Justin Fields (left hand)
• DT Akiem Hicks (ankle)

Yes. . .that’s 13 DNPs for the Bears on their first injury report of the week. A lot of their players were held out for some sort of “illness,” the nature of which we obviously don’t know right now. There are a lot of big names for the Bears on that list, too, so we’re going to have to keep an eye on things as far as that goes.

In addition, the Bears are now up to 12 players on their reserve/COVID-19 list, including at least a couple of starters.

• OL Larry Borom
• DB Artie Burns
• WR Isaiah Coulter
• DL Mario Edwards Jr.
• DT Eddie Goldman
• LB Joel Iyiegbuniwe
• S Eddie Jackson
• TE Jesse James
• LB Sam Kamara
• RB Ryan Nall
• WR Allen Robinson
• OL Elijah Wilkinson

The Bears’ roster page doesn’t have their COVID list divided up between their 53-man roster and their practice squad, so I’m not sure how many of these players were on the main roster for the Bears. There are some obvious names that stand out, however, like Goldman, Jackson, and Robinson. Regardless of how you slice it, the Bears’ roster is in a bad way right now.

The Bears’ coaching staff is also being hit by COVID, much like the Vikings’ staff is, but the Bears’ coaches that have been affected are more prominent. All three of their primary coordinators. . .offensive coordinator Bill Lazor, defensive coordinator Sean Desai, and special teams coordinator Chris Tabor. . .have been participating remotely in meetings this week. Their status for Monday, at this point, is up in the air.

So, there’s going to be plenty to keep an eye on regarding the injury/COVID situations for both of these teams over the next couple of days. Whenever there are updates, we’ll do our best to have them here for you right away.