Broken hand won’t sideline nickel Frey
Bears nickel back Isaiah Frey broke a bone in his hand during the one play in which he moved over to cornerback against the Baltimore Ravens last Sunday. He was in the process of shaking the block of receiver Jacoby Jones when his right hand got stuck.
“My hand got caught in his jersey and kind of twisted,” Frey said after being limited at practice on Thursday. “That’s how you get a spiral fracture, by twisting.”
The spiral fracture is above Frey’s right middle knuckle. He’s wearing a cast that allows him to bend his fingers, and he’ll definitely play Sunday against the St. Louis Rams.
“If I had a club, I probably wouldn’t be playing,” Frey said. “I need some sort of function with my fingers.”
Frey said doctors described his injury as a “typical fracture” that will take four to six weeks to heal. Surgery won’t be needed.
Frey hopes to not think about the cast when he’s playing, but he is anticipating some issues.
“There’s going to be difficulties catching,” Frey said, “but hopefully I can bring it down with one hand or get my body on it.”
Frey doesn’t view his broken hand as a setback during a solid individual season.
“It’s just a little bump in the road,” Frey said. “There’s been a lot people who play with broken hands in this game. I just have to go out there and not really think about it.”
Casting Cutler
Quarterback Jay Cutler remained out of a hard cast for his high ankle sprain. But coach Marc Trestman said, “really on the cast, or the brace he has, it might be a day-to-day thing.”
Cutler was active again at practice, playing a role in some individual drills that Josh McCown and Jordan Palmer were going through.
“You see him moving around [at practice] … and hopefully he won’t have to have the cast put on,” Trestman said. “But I wouldn’t even know the scenarios that would force him to put the cast back on.”
Injury notes
Safety and special-teams leader Craig Steltz (concussion) was limited in practice, while right tackle Jordan Mills (quadriceps) had full participation after being limited a day earlier.
Defensive tackle Stephen Paea (turf toe) didn’t practice for the second day in a row.