16 isn’t so sweet for beat- up Bears
Injury report includes 13 players who are listed as questionable
Bears coach John Fox was almost better off listing the players who were healthy for the game Sunday than those who weren’t.
Fox’s injury list almost needed to be scrolled as he named 16 players who were either limited in practice Friday or did not practice.
Left tackle Jermon Bushrod ( concussion/ shoulder) is the only player ruled out for the game against the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. Safety Antrel Rolle ( ankle) is doubtful.
Wide receivers Alshon Jeffery ( hamstring) and Eddie Royal ( ankle), outside linebacker Pernell McPhee ( shoulder) and guard Patrick Omameh ( ankle) did not practice and headed a group of 13 players who are questionable.
These players were limited in practice and are questionable: quarterbacks Jay Cutler ( hamstring) and Jimmy Clausen ( back), right tackle Kyle Long ( back/ ankle), linebacker Shea McClellin ( elbow), cornerbacks Alan Ball ( groin) and Sherrick McManus ( hamstring), defensive tackles Jeremiah Ratliff ( ankle) and Will Sutton ( elbow) and offensive tackle Tayo Fabuluje ( ankle).
Punter Pat O’Donnell ( knee), who missed the game last week against the Raiders, was limited in practice but is probable.
Fox has downplayed or ignored the mounting injuries, but the sheer number is hard to dismiss when you consider the Chiefs had just two such players — starting linebacker Josh Mauga ( groin/ Achilles), who is out, and reserve wide receiver Albert Wilson ( shoulder), who is questionable.
Fox said he couldn’t remember if he ever had 13 players questionable before a game, but he acknowledged “it’s a few.” In four years with the Broncos, he never had more than six players listed as questionable, and that was in Week 16 last year.
“It’s kind of par for the course so far this season,” Fox said. “We’ve had the injury bug in a variety of positions. It’s kind of the nature of what we do.”
Charles Leno will start for Bushrod at left tackle. Undrafted rookie Harold Jones- Quartey replaced Rolle in the fourth quarter against the Raiders, but Demontre Hurst — promoted from the practice squad this week — also is a candidate if Rolle can’t play, as expected.
The biggest hot spot is at wide receiver. Jeffery has missed the last three games with a hamstring injury. He practiced on a limited basis Tuesday and Wednesday but not at all Friday. Royal did not practice this week. If neither can play, that would leave Marquess Wilson, Josh Bellamy, Cameron Meredith and Marc Mariani as Cutler’s wide receivers. Those four have a combined 37 receptions for 410 yards and two touchdowns in the NFL
And even if Jeffery and Royal do play, it remains to be seen how productive they would be with all the time they have missed.
“If they’re deemed healthy— we have medical people that do that — then we expect them to perform at a high level,” Fox said. “I’m not sure anybody’s 100 percent in the league in Game 5.”