The Chicago Bears suffered a pretty embarrassing loss in Week 1 against the Green Bay Packers, losing 38-20. There wasn’t any facet of the game the team came away feeling great about as the Packers thoroughly dominated from start to finish.
To make matters worse, a key defensive player was lost to injury in the game. Slot cornerback Kyler Gordon had his hand heavily wrapped following a third quarter blitz of Jordan Love. The injury was bad enough that it forced him from the game, and now he is going to be sidelined for a lot longer.
The Bears feared that his absence would extend beyond Week 1 and that unfortunately came true. A painful hand injury is going to land Gordon in injured reserve, meaning he will miss at least the next four games.
Brad Biggs of The Chicago Tribune was on a radio show early this week and shared that the Bears feared Gordon had broken his hand. It would be fair to assume their worries came to fruition based on him being placed on IR.
Gordon is a huge loss for the Bears as he cemented himself as a key contributor to their defense. He showed major improvement near the end of his rookie season in 2022 and was off to a good start in 2023.
Against the Packers, he was one of the only bright spots before getting injured. He allowed only one reception for 16 yards on 27 snaps, earning a solid 65.0 coverage grade from PFF. That was good enough for fourth on the team in Week 1. His best highlight was a pass breakup early in the game while defending Jayden Reed.
Without Gordon, the Bears will likely be turning to 2022 undrafted free agent, Josh Blackwell. Blackwell played well against the run in Week 1 but wasn’t as productive as Gordon was in pass coverage.
