OLB Floyd ditching club for brace on broken hand
Outside linebacker Leonard Floyd’s
‘‘Q-tip’’ — the bulky club that covered his broken right hand like the fuzz at the end of a stick — is gone.
Floyd received permission from the Bears’ training staff to wear a modified brace Sunday against the Cardinals, one that will expose his fingers and allow him to grab blockers and ball carriers.
‘‘It will help him,’’ defensive coordinator
Vic Fangio said. ‘‘He’s still not 100 percent. He’s still got a thing in his palm that will restrict him some.’’
Fangio said Floyd, who improved his hand-fighting skills before breaking his hand in the preseason against the Broncos and having surgery, has been ‘‘fine’’ in his two games with the club. In those games, Floyd has five tackles and a fumble recovery.
‘‘To come to any conclusions about his play over the first two games would be not very prudent,’’ Fangio said.
Coach Matt Nagy said Floyd’s fingers ‘‘are alive’’ now, and it will help his performance. The Bears haven’t set a date for removing a brace altogether, though it figures to be addressed during their Week 5 bye.
Floyd wasn’t made available to the media Thursday. On Wednesday, he said he was going to lobby to minimize the club, which he said wasn’t any easier to play with in Week 2 than it was in the opener.
‘‘It ain’t really no better or worse,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s a club on your hand.’’
Dropkick surprise
Special-teams coordinator Chris Tabor never has coached a kicker who practiced dropkicks. So he was surprised Monday when he saw Seahawks punter Michael
Dickson attempt the rarely used kick twice. After the Bears were flagged for a penalty on an extra point by the Seahawks, Dickson tried a dropkick on the kickoff from the 50-yard line. Receiver Anthony Miller returned the kick to the 15.
The advantage of the dropkick is that it’s hard for the return team to tell which direction the kicker is pointed.
‘‘An onside kick, at the end of the day, is a free-for-all,’’ Tabor said. ‘‘You just have to do your job, and fortunately we got the ball.’’
Injury report
For the second consecutive day, the Bears’ injury report was tiny. Safety DeAndre Houston-Carson, who is recovering from a broken forearm, was limited. Everyone else participated in full. Three Cardinals didn’t practice: receiver Christian Kirk (back), linebacker Dennis Garden (ankle) and defensive tackle Olsen Pierre (toe). Receiver Larry Fitzgerald (hamstring) was one of five players who were limited.
‘‘TO COME TO ANY CONCLUSIONS ABOUT HIS PLAY OVER THE FIRST TWO GAMES WOULD BE NOT VERY PRUDENT.’’
VIC FANGIO, Bears defensive coordinator, on Leonard Floyd