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In terms of this kind of news, Wednesday’s Bears injury report was actually an interesting development in comparison to the regular hamstring pulls and tweaks. That’s especially so for Chicago as they prepare for a Week 1 matchup against the Packers.
Despite not playing a snap in the preseason, new Bears superstar Khalil Mack was a full participant in Lake Forest. Despite being limited in training camp after a holdout and also not playing a snap in the preseason, Roquan Smith was also a full participant. And despite featuring in one whole practice all the way back in mid-July, Aaron Lynch was all systems go.
It’s almost as if the preseason is seen as a crapshoot by NFL teams like the Bears.
It's going to blow people's minds when Roquan Smith and Khalil Mack take the field together against the Packers despite not playing in any preseason games.
— Robert Żeglinski (@RobertZeglinski) September 1, 2018
In a very hilarious way.
In all seriousness, what does this mean, exactly? You can expect each of Mack, Smith, and Lynch to have heavily featured roles at varying degrees in Green Bay. On their latest depth chart, Mack was notably listed as a starter for the Bears, while Smith and Lynch were each entrenched in No. 2 and No. 3 slots at their positions, respectively. Both latter players’ status can certainly always change before Sunday.
Now, there is always the off chance this trio of Bears gets injured because they didn’t have much action in the past six weeks. We should acknowledge that fact. Of course, a cartoonish anvil can fall on their head too and there would be similar blame doled out to their lack of previous participation.
In other cliff notes, Leonard Floyd was also a full participant in Wednesday’s practice with a broken hand. Expect the third-year pass rusher to start without much issues on Sunday night.
Some preseason snaps matter, but not to the degree you think. The Bears doing this with a great deal of their defensive core shows they emphatically agree.
Robert is an editor, writer, and producer for The Blitz Network, Windy City Gridiron, and The Rock River Times. You can follow him on Twitter @RobertZeglinski and reach him by email at robertpoduski@gmail.com.