Bears coach Ben Johnson frustrated by Kyler Gordon's injury 'rut'
Bears coach Ben Johnson was disappointed when cornerback Kyler Gordon suffered yet another soft-tissue injury, this time hurting his groin less than 90 minutes before kickoff against the Packers on Sunday.
“I wish I had a better feel for the individual, but with him being out as much as he has, I haven’t really gotten to see him on the field and competing and get to know him like I’d like to at this point yet,” Johnson said Monday. “I do know the biggest predictor of a soft-tissue injury is having a previous one, and he’s kind of in this rut right now that we’re not able to get out of. So we’re going to exhaust all of our resources in and outside of the building to make sure we’re addressing it and doing what we can to get him back and healthy again.”
The Bears added Gordon to the injury report with a hamstring injury a day before the season opener, then put him on injured reserve with groin and calf injuries in mid-October. He returned to face the Eagles on Nov. 28.
Slow day for DJ
Johnson was surprised when he saw wide receiver DJ Moore’s final stat line Sunday: one catch on three targets for minus-4 yards, even with No. 1 receiver Rome Odunze out with a stress fracture in his foot,
“That was not the intent,” Johnson said. “I thought, going into the game, we might have had more for him than any other player in the offense.”
Said fellow receiver Olamide Zaccheaus: “It might be a different person or different few people at every game that ‘pop,’ but I think [Moore’s] mindset has just been that we just want to win. So, whatever that may look like, everybody’s just being ready for their opportunities.”
Notes
The Ravens claimed linebacker Carl Jones Jr. off waivers after the Bears cut him Saturday.
• Safety Kevin Byard and guard Joe Thuney led Pro Bowl fan voting at their positions as of midday Monday. Among the 15 Bears players ranking in the top 10 at their positions, center Drew Dalman and cornerback Nahshon Wright were second. Quarterback Caleb Williams was eighth.