There were no big surprises on the Bears inactives list for Week 7 against the Raiders. Most of the guys who will not suit up at Soldier Field are guys who have already been ruled out due to injury.
The most notable inactive player is Justin Fields, who was ruled out with a dislocated thumb. Fields hurt himself in Week 6 against the Vikings, and the Bears are hopeful he won’t need surgery. The team opted not to place him on injured reserve this week, indicating they believe he can return within four games.
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Beyond that the team will be without three other big contributors: starting free safety Eddie Jackson (foot), starting right guard Nate Davis (ankle) and running back Roschon Johnson (concussion). In their place, the team will play Elijah Hicks at safety and lean on D’Onta Foreman and Darrynton Evans at running back. Travis Homer could see some play in the backfield too, especially on passing downs since he’s known for his pass protection. The biggest unknown is who will take over at right guard, since the Bears could deploy several different OL combinations. Moving Teven Jenkins from left guard to right guard then inserting Cody Whitehair back at left guard, or simply having Ja’Tyre Carter sub in at right guard seem to be the two most likely options.
Backup corner Terell Smith remains inactive since he has mononucleosis. The team expects Smith to miss several more weeks with the illness. However, Jaquan Brisker is healthy enough to play after he popped up on Friday’s injury report with a groin ailment.
Finally, the team opted to make backup center Doug Kramer active instead of Dan Feeney.