Bears left tackle Braxton Jones and left guard Teven Jenkins played against the Lions despite being questionable, but both were out by the middle of the second quarter.
The game stopped for several minutes when Jones injured his left ankle, which brought most of the Bears’ sideline onto the field as the medical team put an air cast on his left leg, typically the sign of a broken bone, and lifted him onto a cart. Jones signaled two thumbs up as he exited.
Jenkins was limited by a calf injury all week and apparently reaggravated it by the end of the first quarter and was ruled out.
The Bears replaced Jones with Larry Borom, whom they kept on the bench against the Vikings in favor of rookie Kiran Amegadjie when Jones was out with a concussion. Amegadjie was a healthy scratch.
“I don’t view it as a message at all,” Amegadjie said. “We’re all professionals. We’re all adults. It’s not a personal thing.”
Jake Curhan replaced Jenkins and -committed a brutal false start on third-and-six at the Lions’ 23-yard line in the middle of the fourth quarter as the Bears worked backward from first-and-five at the 22 to punting on fourth-and-25 from the 42.
Odunze’s ups and downs
When Bears rookie wide receiver Rome Odunze fumbled a handoff from quarterback Caleb Williams on a fly sweep in the first quarter, he tried to turn the page.
“I always move on regardless of if it’s a good play or a bad play,” said Odunze, who caught seven passes for 77 yards. “Just have to make the next one.”
The next one didn’t go well, either. On a 19-yard pass from Williams later in the first quarter, Odunze fumbled again. The Lions turned his turnovers into 10 points.
Ongoing nightmare
The Bears went three-and-out to begin the game against the Lions, the ninth time they’ve done that in 15 games this season and fourth time in a row.
They’ve allowed their opponent to score first in all but one game and have scored an NFL-low 17 first-quarter points this season.
Notes
Cornerback Jaylon Johnson was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct after shoving Lions running back Craig Reynolds in the head and then deflecting the ball when Reynolds tossed it to the official.
• Defensive end Austin Booker committed a neutral-zone infraction on a fourth-and-one for the Lions in the second quarter. It was the fourth such ill-timed penalty called on the Bears this season.
• Defensive end Montez Sweat finished without a sack for the fourth consecutive game and eighth time this season.
Contributing: Patrick Finley