Bears' Claypool will miss Sunday's game against Eagles with knee injury
Bears wide receiver Chase Claypool has been ruled out of Sunday's game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Soldier Field, after he missed the entire week of practice due to a knee injury.
He landed awkwardly on his knee as he was being tackled when the Bears last played on Dec. 4 against the Green Bay Packers. Team trainers attended to Claypool for a while along the team's sideline, but the 24-year-old receiver did eventually return to the game.
When the Bears returned to practice this week after their bye, Claypool remained sidelined.
"It's the same [knee]," head coach Matt Eberflus said. "He's just rehabbing it, getting better. [He's] not where we need it to be for this week, but we're hopeful for coming up here soon."
Eberflus said he does expect Claypool, who is not going on injured reserve, to return this season.
The Bears traded a 2023 second-round draft pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for Claypool at the trade deadline in early November. Since joining the Bears, Claypool has 12 receptions for 111 in five games.
Learning a new offense midseason has been a slow process, but the Bears have been pretty confident that Claypool has a solid understanding of the playbook now.
"When you hear a play call and how quickly that's absorbed, he's probably not to where the other guys are because [they've had] six months or more [in the offense]," offensive coordinator Luke Getsy said this week. "But as far as knowing what to do and how to do it, I think he's in pretty good shape to where he can handle most of the offense."
With top receiver Darnell Mooney already out with a season-ending ankle injury, the Bears will be without their top two receivers this weekend. That doesn't bode well in a game against an Eagles team with the best record in the NFL at 12-1.
Some combination of Equanimeous St. Brown, Byron Pringle, N'Keal Harry, Dante Pettis and Velus Jones Jr. will have to step up for the Bears at the receiver position. Of those receivers, St. Brown leads the way with 17 receptions for 280 yards and one touchdown.
Tight end Cole Kmet and running back David Montgomery should also be highly active in the passing game. Without Mooney and Claypool, Kmet leads the team with 35 receptions for 408 yards and five touchdowns.
Jones, the rookie third-round draft pick, could see his biggest share of snaps on offense all season. He played on 23% of offensive snaps against the Packers, which marked his season high. With Claypool sidelined, that number could increase again.
"We want to get all of those guys involved, and Velus is no different than the rest of them," Eberflus said. "When you have a receiver go down, we've been carrying six anyway. Typically, you only carry five. But we'll see what we're going to do this week. But yeah, it will definitely give some more opportunities for others."
Injury report:
In addition to Claypool, tight end Trevon Wesco has been ruled out due to a calf injury.
Quarterback Justin Fields and running back David Montgomery hold no injury designations after dealing with illnesses this week.
Right tackle Larry Borom (knee) is listed as doubtful for Sunday's game. Receiver N'Keal Harry (back) and cornerback Kindle Vildor (ankle) are questionable, although both were full participants in practice all week.