The Chicago Bears already seemed to be making preparations for the eventuality. Now confirmation has been received. Star defensive end Akiem Hicks is not expected to play today against the Minnesota Vikings. He suffered a knee injury in the win over the Washington Redskins. While head coach Matt Nagy doesn’t believe there’s any long-term risk, it’s clear the team isn’t going to take chances. They need Hicks for the entire season and don’t want to risk further damage by trying to make him go for this game.
It’s a tough situation. The Bears had already lost Bilal Nichols to a broken hand a few weeks back. With Hicks out their 5th-ranked run defense will have that much harder of a time stopping white-hot Vikings running back Dalvin Cook. A lot will be expected of Roy Robertson-Harris, Nick Williams, and Abdullah Anderson to pick up the slack. Hopefully, nose tackle Eddie Goldman and linebackers Roquan Smith and Danny Trevathan can have good games.
Such is life in the NFL. Players get hurt. The team can’t waste time crying about it. The Bears lost Khalil Mack for two weeks last season. They must adjust to that reality and continue playing hard. Minnesota isn’t going to show them any mercy. Not in a game of this magnitude.
Akiem Hicks could be benched until mid-October
It would not be a surprise if the Bears decided to simply leave Hicks inactive for the next two weeks. After today, the team will travel to London to play the Oakland Raiders. Then it will be the bye week. This means the defensive end would have three full weeks of recovery time before a big game with huge NFC implications against the New Orleans Saints. Having Hicks at 100% for that clash would be gigantic. This isn’t something unheard of either. Head coach Matt Nagy is known for playing it safe with star players. Such was the case with Mack and Allen Robinson last year.
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