Starting cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon will be back on the Bears roster in time to face the defending champion Eagles on Friday.
The Bears activated both from injured reserve Thursday. Both were full participants in practice all week, though coach Ben Johnson was in no rush to make declarations about either.
Slot cornerback C.J. Gardner-Johnson tipped the team’s hand for Johnson when he praised him Wednesday, calling him one of the NFL’s best cornerbacks.
“I just feel like now he probably get a chance to actually show that, him being active this week, against a great receiving corps,” he said. “I’m excited for him.”
Johnson will take the place of Tyrique Stevenson, who was ruled out with a hip injury. The Bears will likely get creative in playing Gordon and Gardner-Johnson, who both play slot cornerback, together.
“It’s a good problem to have, and we’ll have a plan to try to utilize all the pieces that we have to the puzzle,” coach Dennis Allen said earlier this week. “We’ll try to utilize those to the best of our ability to try to get ourselves in the best position to be successful. It’s no different than the offensive coach that you’ve got all these offensive weapons. There’s only one football. How do you distribute the ball to all of them? At some point, everybody’s gonna have a role to play. What that role is going to be from week to week may change. But we’ll have a plan in place.”
To make room, the Bears put rookie guard Luke Newman on IR with a foot injury and waived running back Brittain Brown. They elevated tackle Jordan McFadden and linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin from the practice squad.
The Bears need all the linebacker depth they can get — the team ruled out their three starters, T.J. Edwards (hand/hamstring), Ruben Hyppolite II (shoulder) and Noah Sewell (elbow) after they didn’t practice all week.
Johnson has played part of only one game this year — Week 2 in Detroit — because of groin injuries that have bothered him since before training camp.
The two-time Pro Bowl player tore the adductor muscle off his pelvic bone while working out at UNLV in July. He hurt a different part of his groin in Week 2 and had surgery. The Bears brought him back to practice earlier this month.
Gordon has played in only two games year. He hurt his hamstring days before the Bears season opener and then was put on IR with a calf injury after the Saints game. He returned to practice a week ago. NFL rules dictate that players have 21 days from the time they return to practice to be put on the active roster or be lost for the season.