The Chicago Bears shocked plenty of people when they declared inside linebacker Roquan Smith doubtful to play against the Minnesota Vikings last Sunday. When pressed on what the issue was, head coach Matt Nagy consistently stated that it was a “personal matter” and would offer nothing more. This led to wild speculation from a death in the family to a possible car accident he was involved in. Nothing seemed to make sense about the entire issue. Especially since Smith appeared on the sideline during the game.
Adam Schefter later revealed on ESPN 1000 that Smith had been acting strange all week leading up to the game. So the Bears took the cautious approach to bench him. Now further information has come out via his colleague.
NFL insider Dan Graziano of ESPN appeared on the show “Get Up” on Tuesday morning. He revealed that Smith has not been acting like himself for the past couple of weeks. This led the Bears to make the decision to deactivate him on gameday against Minnesota.
“Chicago Bears linebacker Roquan Smith will be out indefinitely while the team gives him the time he needs to deal with a personal issue, sources told ESPN’s Dan Graziano.
Smith had not been acting like himself around the team facilities for the past week or so, sources said.
Bears coach Matt Nagy repeatedly called Smith’s situation a “personal issue” without going into greater detail when he was peppered Monday with 12 different questions regarding Smith’s surprise deactivation before Chicago’s victory over Minnesota.”
It would explain why Nagy has been noncommital on whether the linebacker would travel with the team to London and also why he steadfastly refused to discuss Smith’s condition.
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Roquan Smith loss hurt but Bears know they can handle it
While the top priority is obviously getting Smith healthy, it’s still a tough loss for the Bears defense. He’s their most capable linebacker and hard to replace. Yet they showed against Minnesota that they can do damage without him. Backup Nick Kwiatkoski was outstanding against the Vikings, posting nine tackles, two tackles for a loss, and a sack. He’s not as talented as Smith but his experience and intelligence should be enough to handle most of the necessary duties.
Hopefully whatever Smith is dealing with isn’t a long-term issue. This situation sounds eerily familiar to the one Vikings defensive end Everson Griffen dealt with last season that eventually landed him in a mental institute. He wound up missing five games. There is no way to tell for certain what’s going on with Smith but all the Bears can do is wait and hope that he’s able to sort it all out.
