The Chicago Bears are battling injuries as the preseason winds down. Thankfully, most of them seem to be of the short-term variety. That means most of the players not practicing will return once the actual games are set to begin. However, they did get hit with a double whammy this past week when wide receiver Dante Pettis went on Injured Reserve while fellow receiver Joe Reed was waived with an injury clause. It is a significant blow to the Bears’ overall depth at the position.
If that weren’t enough, it makes things less certain at the bottom of the depth chart. As of now, the injuries to Pettis and Reed likely leave Equanimeous St. Brown as the heavy favorite for the sixth and final wide receiver spot. While experienced and a proven run-blocker, there is one problem. St. Brown has little value on special teams. He is not a returner and hasn’t made a single tackle in coverage for two years. So unless the Bears plan to put him back into that fold, they may utilize their premium position on the waiver wire to hunt for wide receiver help.
Their mode of operation at almost every position on the roster is adding players with developmental upside and special teams capability at the bottom. It was true last year at cornerback with guys like Josh Blackwell and Jaylon Jones. That worked out pretty well. The same could be true for wide receiver. St. Brown is who he is. The veteran has shown he’ll never be a standout pass-catcher. So unless he’s ready to re-embrace full-time work on special teams coverage units, the Bears must find somebody else.
One name to watch for is Stanley Morgan. The former undrafted free agent had 13 special teams tackles last season. He’s stuck on a loaded Cincinnati Bengals depth chart. The same goes for Miles Boykin in Pittsburgh. He had nine special teams tackles last season. KhaDarel Hodge is another. Though a journeyman throughout his career, he’s been a consistently excellent special teams presence. He had nine tackles last year for Atlanta. Much of this depends on what the Chicago Bears see in the preseason finale against Buffalo.
