Injuries make Chicago Bears 53-man roster impossible to predict

This is the time of the preseason when everyone is trying to predict how the Chicago Bears will trim their 90-man roster down to 53.

It’s never easy to read Ryan Poles’ mind, and it will be close to impossible this year with all the injuries his team is working through.

It’s hard enough to guess who this coaching staff will view as the winners to roster battles at positions like quarterback, running back and defensive end. Add in the spots where players missed some or all of the preseason, and it feels like fool’s errand.

At wide receiver, for example, we last saw Velus Jones fumble a punt against the Tennessee Titans, but injuries kept him out of the last two preseason games while rookie Tyler Scott emerged as a quality alternative. Is that enough for Poles to cut his disappointing third-round pick after just one full season?

The offensive line might be the most complicated decision. We don’t know exactly how long Teven Jenkins will be out or whether he could start the season on short-term injured reserve.

Backup center Lucas Patrick never took the field in the preseason, and his availability for Week 1 is no sure-thing. Cody Whitehair has a cast on his hand that is preventing him from snapping the ball, for now, and third-string center Doug Kramer went down the preseason finale against the Buffalo Bills.

The conditions for Justin Fields are worsening by the day https://t.co/08m8IxPLzX

— Lorin Cox (@CoxSports1) August 22, 2023

If Whitehair and Patrick can get to 100 percent again in the next two weeks, the Bears won’t need to roster an extra backup center. But if Jenkins goes on injured reserve, that would open up another spot for an extra offensive lineman who might not have made the 53-man roster otherwise.

Good luck predicting how that plays out.

On defense, key backups at linebacker and cornerback haven’t played at all this preseason. The Bears signed Dylan Cole in free agency to serve as a top backup to Tremaine Edmunds and TJ Edwards, but he has yet to take the field in blue and orange. Making matters more complicated is the unknowns surrounding the injury suffered by rookie Noah Sewell against the Bills.

Promising young slot cornerback Josh Blackwell was supposed to be the top option behind Kyler Gordon, but he spent his first Bears training camp in the trainer’s room.

Will Poles keep players who hardly practiced all summer if he thinks they’re valuable enough?

This regime has remained tight-lipped about injury updates and how they view the cutdown decisions ahead of them. We’ll have the answers Tuesday afternoon, but don’t count on your 53-man roster prediction winning any bets this year.