Goldman appeared in the Bears’ final preseason game, playing in the first quarter, after sitting out the first two.
Nose tackle Eddie Goldman sat out all last season because of coronavirus concerns. Now it’s fair to wonder if he’ll play in the Bears’ season opener.
Goldman did not practice Wednesday because of a knee and ankle injury, per the NFL’s injury report. He was not spotted on the field, or off to the side of it, during the portion of practice open to th emedia.
Goldman was in attendance at Monday’s walk-through but was not at the team’s previous practice Thursday.
Goldman has had an unusual 18 months. He sat out last year because of coronavirus concerns and then became the only Bears player not to report for mandatory minicamp. Bears coach Matt Nagy has commented often about how hard Goldman is to get ahold of, even via text mesage.
Goldman reported to training camp without being vaccinated — and landed on the reserve/COVID-19 list a few weeks later after testing positive.
Defensive coordinator Sean Desai said Wednesday he was pleased with Goldman’s play in camp.
“He came back in shape — and mentally in shape and physically in shape,” he said. “And you saw … in preseason [Game] 3 when he played he can still be an X-factor when he’s in there in the game for the limited reps that he was there. So it was fun to see.”
The Bears brought in reinforcements on Wednesday morning, signing defensive tackle Margus Hunt and nose tackle Damion Square to the practice squad.
Hunt, who is a massive 6-foot-8, 295 pounds, started 26 games over nine seasons — first with the Bengals, where he was a second-round draft pick, and then the Colts from 2017-19. He played for the Bengals again and the Saints in 2020.
Square started 24 games in seven seasons with the Eagles and, for the last six years, the Chargers.
The Bears need defensive line depth help the first two weeks, as defensive end Mario Edwards is suspended for violating the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy.
Tight end Jimmy Graham was the only other Bears player to miss practice Wednesday. It was not injury-related; rather, he got a veteran day off.