Bears blanked on Pro Bowl for first time in 5 years
Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith makes a tackle Saturday against the Browns.
Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images
Roquan Smith finally got his Pro Bowl nod.
All it took, apparently, was for the Bears to trade him.
The Ravens middle linebacker was named to the Pro Bowl Games — a flag-football format replacing the traditional game — on Wednesday night.
No Bears, though, were among the 88 players voted on by an equal vote of fans, coaches and players. The Jaguars were the only other team blanked.
The last time the Bears were shut out of the league’s annual all-star honors was following the 2017 season. They had two selections in each of the last two seasons.
The Bears traded Smith to the Ravens for a second-round pick Oct. 31. Edge rusher Khalil Mack, whom they dealt to the Chargers in March, made his seventh Pro Bowl.
The Bears’ best chance of landing a Pro Bowl player vanished when Eddie Jackson suffered a Lisfranc injury to his left foot Nov. 27 against the Jets. At the time, he led all NFC safeties in fan voting.
There’s no doubting Justin Fields’ dynamism — he leads all quarterbacks in rushing — but he has struggled in the passing game and plays for a three-win team. The Eagles’ Jalen Hurts, the Vikings’ Kirk Cousins and the Sea-hawks’ Geno Smith will represent the NFC.
The Bears have had only two quarterbacks named to the Pro Bowl since the AFL-NFL merger: Jim McMahon after the 1985 season and Mitch Trubisky after 2018. Trubisky was an alternate and replaced Super Bowl-bound quarterback Jared Goff.
The NFC North rival Vikings boast five Pro Bowl players. The Packers and Lions have one apiece.