The Chicago Bears are taking extra precautions this week after a COVID-19 outbreak sidelined all three coordinators Thursday.
The statuses of offensive coordinator Bill Lazor, defensive coordinator Sean Desai and special teams coordinator Chris Tabor for Monday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings are in question as they go through protocols.
As the Bears work through this latest disruption, here are five questions on the situation.
1. Which Bears have been affected by this latest COVID-19 surge?
The Bears have placed five players on the reserve/COVID-19 list this week. In addition, all three coordinators are quarantined away from the building after testing positive for the virus.
Coach Matt Nagy said the Bears still were waiting to see if more players would be added to the list Thursday.
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Earlier this week, the team placed defensive linemen Mario Edwards and Eddie Goldman, offensive tackle Larry Borom, cornerback Artie Burns and practice squad linebacker Sam Kamara on the reserve/COVID-19 list. Offensive lineman Elijah Wilkinson, who is unvaccinated, has been on the reserve/COVID-19 list since Nov. 26.
Nagy said the Bears also are dealing with a rash of non-COVID-19 illnesses.
2. How do the Bears’ current COVID-19 issues compare to the rest of the league?
Multiple teams have experienced surges and enacted enhanced COVID-19 protocols because of it.
NFL Network reported that about 100 players across the league tested positive from Monday through Wednesday.
The Washington Football Team has 21 players on the COVID-19 list. In Cleveland, Browns coach Kevin Stefanski and quarterback Baker Mayfield tested positive. Mayfield was one of 18 players on the Browns’ list on Wednesday.
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The Los Angeles Rams, Detroit Lions, Atlanta Falcons and Vikings were among the other teams in enhanced protocols this week.
Dr. Allen Sills, the NFL’s chief medical officer, said at a news conference Wednesday the league has isolated several cases of the omicron variant in more than one team. He thinks omicron is one factor driving the surge, along with waning immunity and seasonal change. The NFL is requiring all Tier 1 and 2 staff to get their vaccine booster shots and encouraging players to get it to address the waning immunity.
Sills said the large majority of players who have tested positive are asymptomatic or have very mild symptoms. That included two-thirds of the positives Tuesday and Wednesday reporting as asymptomatic.
3. What changes has the team made to its normal preparation schedule this week?
Aside from wearing masks and holding virtual post-practice meetings, the Bears changed their full Thursday practice to a walk-through without any live reps. Nagy said the Bears made the change to ensure they weren’t putting too much stress on the limited number of players available by running a full practice.
As of Thursday morning, Nagy didn’t know if they also would move Friday’s practice to a walk-through. The walk-through changes physical reps into mental ones, Nagy and quarterback Justin Fields said.
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“You can walk through it, but it’s not the same without repping it live,” Fields said. “That’s the biggest difference for me. … That’s the only thing you can do, just walk through reps and talk about the play.”
The Bears also are sorting through contingency plans for the coaches and players who might miss the game.
“I talked to some of the guys this morning (and said), ‘You’ve got to understand that this is the world we live in right now,’” Nagy said. “These are the rules we’ve got to play by, and everybody has to know that at any given moment you’ve got to be ready because it’s the next-man-up mentality, not just for players but for coaches too. In these type of moments what you’ve got to do is try to really stay positive, take care of your body, stay positive, stay together and realize that we’re not the only ones right now in that (situation).”
4. What are the Bears’ contingency plans in the coordinator roles?
If Lazor were to remain out for Monday night’s game against the Vikings, Nagy would almost certainly take play-calling duties for his offense. Defensively, Nagy wouldn’t specify who might fill in for Desai in an emergency but did insinuate that current senior defensive assistant Mike Pettine would be a logical option. Pettine has eight seasons of coordinator experience in the NFL, including most recently with the Green Bay Packers from 2018-20.
On special teams, assistant special teams coach Brian Ginn could see an elevated game-night role if Tabor can’t return.
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“We’re not the only team in the NFL that’s going through this,” said Nagy, who tested positive for the virus in October and wound up missing the team’s Week 8 game against the San Francisco 49ers. “There are other teams that are going through this. When you keep that mindset, you understand it. You try to stay as positive as you can.”
5. How concerned are Bears players about the current situation?
Fields didn’t seem overly anxious about the recent surge of COVID-19 within the team and said he hadn’t taken any additional precautions outside the team’s alterations to the schedule and routine.
“Just been wearing a mask,” Fields said. “So same thing. That’s about it.”
On Wednesday, linebacker Alec Ogletree emphasized he was working to retain a positive attitude while remaining aware of all that is going on.
“Everybody is doing the best they can in trying to make sure everybody is safe and prepared while understanding why we have to do certain things in a certain way,” Ogletree said. “And that’s just to try to protect us and protect the people who work here. It’s not just the players. But you’ve got staff and a bunch of people who work here and come here every day to earn their check. So as far as the protocols go, we all have to abide by the rules and do what we need to do to try and keep this as safe as possible.”
Ogletree stressed that COVID-19 is likely to be around for a long time. And learning how to adapt, he said, will be key.
“I pray that everybody’s healthy and safe and able to do whatever they need to do in order to live day to day,” Ogletree said. “But like I said, man, there are a lot of things that go on in this world and you just count your blessings.”
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