The 4-3 Chicago Bears will play the 4-4 Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium in a Week 9 matchup. Here’s what you need to know before kickoff (3:05 p.m., CBS-2).
What to watch for in Week 9 — plus our predictions
Left tackle Braxton Jones already has been ruled out after suffering a knee injury against the Commanders. The Bears are likely to replace Jones with Larry Borom, who suffered an ankle injury in the preseason finale against the Chiefs and spent the first eight weeks on injured reserve.
“It always sucks seeing guys go down,” Borom said. “I’m just thankful I’m able to come back and be able to help.”
Borom returned to practice last week and said he doesn’t have any more physical hurdles to clear to be ready to play. Though it has been awhile since the 2021 fifth-round pick has played, he has started 23 games over three seasons in his career, and offensive line coach Chris Morgan said he has stayed prepared.
Left guard Teven Jenkins was limited Wednesday and Friday with a knee injury and sat out Thursday. But coach Matt Eberflus said Jenkins looked good, indicating that he could start Sunday.
Beyond Jones sitting out, safety Jaquan Brisker will miss his third straight game while recovering from a concussion, and offensive tackle Kiran Amegadjie (calf) also will be out. Read more here.
‘I let the moment get too big’
Less than 24 hours after his viral lapse in focus on the Commanders’ winning Hail Mary, Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson stood up in a full team meeting and attempted to take accountability.
It was a play, he said, that the Bears practiced so often they could “handle on any day with our eyes closed.” But he confirmed he was out of place.
“The brief message is I apologize to the boys for letting them down,” Stevenson said. “I let the moment get too big, and it’s something that can never happen again and won’t ever happen again.” Read more here.
- Column: Tyrique Stevenson’s total obliviousness will be part of his Bears story for years. You can’t go un-viral.
- What just happened? Brad Biggs’ 10 thoughts on Bears’ stunning Week 8 loss.
- Column: ‘Heartbreaking.’ How 17 seconds turned into a devastating Hail Mary loss for the Bears.
‘It’s just got to stay in-house next time’
When Matt Eberflus held his weekly meeting with the Bears leadership council Wednesday, the coach and players had a lot to address as they picked up the pieces from the 18-15, last-second loss. Two days earlier, several of the Bears’ eight captains publicly voiced questions or concerns about coaching decisions that were made in the fourth quarter.
Quarterback Caleb Williams called the session a “grown-man talk,” during which players and Eberflus voiced their thoughts about what went wrong. Read more here.
- Column: Is Matt Eberflus feeling the heat after the Bears’ crushing loss? And why does this all feel so familiar?
- ‘Sunday comes fast.’ As criticism of Matt Eberflus heightens, the Bears work to purge last weekend’s crushing loss.
‘I had trust in it’
Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron said “there’s always valid criticism when things don’t work out’”— but repeatedly noted he was confident in the third-and-goal handoff to Doug Kramer.
Waldron’s call to hand the ball off to Kramer, an offensive lineman, on third-and-goal at the 1-yard line in the fourth quarter has been a major storyline this week. Kramer, who had never had an NFL carry, didn’t control the handoff from quarterback Caleb Williams, and the Commanders recovered the fumble.
Waldron stopped short of saying he shouldn’t have made such a risky call when the Bears were in position to take the lead with 6 minutes, 21 seconds to play. And when he was asked whether he would make the call again, he said yes. Read more here.
- The Caleb Williams File: Assessing a slow start — and a flash-filled finish — in the latest Bears loss
- Tracking Caleb Williams: How the Bears QB is performing in his rookie season
‘We deserve to be seen’
Things starting changing in Illinois three years ago, when the Chicago Public League partnered with the Bears and others to launch a girls high school flag football league. Twenty-two teams participated that first season in 2021. Last year, it expanded to include more than 100 schools across the state.
This February, the IHSA board of directors added flag football to its roster of sanctioned sports. Six months later, Chicago Tribune photojournalist Eileen T. Meslar and reporter Jonathan Bullington began shadowing the Lane Tech team to document its triumphs and setbacks as it tried to remove that asterisk and claim the state’s first girls flag football championship title. Read more here.
