Seeing their four-game win streak snapped in Baltimore, the Bears came out of that game banged up on their defensive line. One of their pieces — rookie Shemar Turner — will not return this season.
Ben Johnson confirmed (via the Marquee Sports Network’s Scott Bair) Turner will miss the rest of the season with an ACL tear sustained Sunday. A second-round pick, Turner had worked as a backup for the team during his first batch of games. Additionally, Johnson mentioned Dominique Robinson is expected to miss a few weeks with a high ankle sprain.
Selected 62nd overall out of Texas A&M, Turner had played as a backup in five games this season. The Bears used him on 24% of their defensive snaps. A lengthy rehab effort will be required before Turner is considered for a bigger role. Chosen a round after Aggies D-line mate Shemar Stewart (Bengals), Turner made six tackles (two for loss) and tallied two quarterback hits in his brief rookie-year sample.
The Bears, who carried six D-tackles on their 53-man roster in Week 8, have Grady Jarrett and Gervon Dexter in place as starters. While free agency addition Dayo Odeyingbo regularly slid inside with the Colts, only 20 of the D-end’s 331 Bears snaps have come at DT. Chicago also rosters Andrew Billings, Jonathan Ford and 2024 trade pickup Chris Williams at the position.
At D-end, however, the team only rosters four players. A move will be needed to staff the backup level, as Robinson has spent his contract year in a second-string role. Chosen in Ryan Poles‘ first draft as GM, Robinson has not started more than one game in a season since his 2022 rookie year (when he made seven starts for a rebuilding team). Robinson has played 27% of Chicago’s defensive snaps this season, registering 1.5 sacks and three TFLs. Daniel Hardy resides as Chicago’s other active-roster backup at DE.