The Chicago Bears are enjoying their best start through 11 games since 2018, when they were also at 8-3 and finished the season with an NFC North-winning 12-4. They put their record on the line Friday against the Philadelphia Eagles, who are also 8-3 and leading their division.
But the Bears go in at a significant disadvantage, with an injury-racked roster â especially on defense where the Monsters of the Midway will face the reigning Super Bowl champions without five of their regular defensive players, and two others listed prior to the game as questionable to play.
Linebackers T.J. Edwards and Ruben Hyppolite II are listed as out for the Eagles game with hamstring and shoulder injuries, respectively. Cornerback Tyrique Stevenson with a hip injury and linebacker Noah Sewell (elbow) will also sit out the Black Friday game â streamed nationally by Amazon Prime from Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia at 3 p.m. ET â as will an offensive lineman, Luke Newman, who will be inactive with a foot issue.
Edge Rusher Recovering From Concussion
But one defensive player, rotational edge rusher Dominique Robinson will be sidelined for the type of injury that is always the most concerning for its long-term effects. Robinson suffered a traumatic brain injury generally known as a concussion on Sunday, and his cognitive symptoms have not yet resolved themselves â meaning that he remains in the NFL’s mandated concussion protocol process, a series of steps and tests that a concussed player must pass in order to be considered recovered and eligible to play.
Among those steps are that a player must be a full participant in his team’s final practice of the week and, additionally, pass a neurological exam in order to be taken out of the protocol. Robinson was listed as DNP, did not participate, for Thursday’s Bears practice â though that session was a walk-through.
Robinson apparently suffered the concussion in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 31-28 Bears victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Concussion Happened on 4th-Quarter Tackle
The 2022 fifth-round draft pick out of Miami (Ohio), made his second solo tackle of the game when he stopped Steelers running back Jaylen Warren on a four-yard carry with 9:19 left on the clock. But Robinson took an impact to the helmet, forcing him to exit the game for a concussion check.
Evidently, the initial check found that the 27-year-old was indeed displaying concussion symptoms because he did not return to the game and was held out of practice due to concussion protocol requirements all week.
Robinson is playing the final season of his four-year, $4 million rookie contract with Chicago, and is due to become an unrestricted free agent following the season.
Initial Concussion Increases Future Risk
Medical research studies have found that suffering one concussion increases the risk in football players of suffering a second concussion, and that repeat concussions have longer recovery times than an initial concussion.
There is no available record of a previous concussion suffered by Robinson.
Remaining inactive until concussion symptoms have resolved can be extremely important. A 2011 study found that a phenomenon known as Second Impact Syndrome, or SIS, carries a nearly 50 percent mortality rate. SIS occurs when a player continues to participate in athletic activity and suffers a second traumatic brain injury while still symptomatic from the first.
Most concussions, between 80 and 90 percent, see symptoms go away after seven to 10 days.
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