Faith in offensive system makes Bears certain they can beat Patriots, even without Mack, Robinson
Khalil Mack was in no mood to answer injury questions Friday afternoon at Halas Hall. After going through Bears practice inside the Payton Center as a limited participant, the star outside linebacker was listed officially as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Patriots. All signs point toward Mack at least making an attempt to play on his sprained right ankle. But Mack wasn’t interested in offering his own personal forecast for Sunday.
“I ain’t answering questions like that,” he said.
Asked how he initially hurt his ankle in last weekend’s overtime loss to the Dolphins, Mack shrugged.
“It’s football,” he said. Mack was reminded he hasn’t missed a game during his five NFL seasons, a streak of 69 games. Asked how close he came to missing a game during his time with the Raiders, Mack shrugged again.
“Man,” he said, “I ain’t even talking about that either.”
At this point, with Mack making it through Friday’s practice without aggravating the ankle injury, it would be a surprise if he wasn’t in uniform and active Sunday. But the official word on his status won’t come until 90 minutes before kickoff.
Coach Matt Nagy said he will keep tabs on where Mack is at mentally and physically as the Bears go through their paces Saturday in Lake Forest and again Sunday morning when the team arrives at Soldier Field.
“Just trying to keep a feel as to where we think he’s at and where he thinks he’s at,” Nagy said. “And when we get to the time when we have to make a decision, then we’ll go with what we feel is best for him and best for the team.”
Two others Bears starters were listed as questionable for Sunday. Receiver Allen Robinson is dealing with a groin issue that kept him out of Thursday’s practice. But Rob- inson returned to the field on Friday. Slot cornerback Bryce Callahan, meanwhile, suffered an ankle injury Thursday and sat out Friday’s work.