The painful injury saga that is Alshon Jeffery’s 2015 got no better again on Friday as the wide receiver and linchpin of the current Bears receiver group sat out practice and now is expected to miss his fourth straight game.
Adding to the Bears’ offensive concerns was fellow wideout Eddie Royal also sidelined for practice with an ankle injury. Royal, signed to be a No. 3 receiver behind Jeffery and rookie Kevin White, has been pressed into starting all four games to this point.
The offseason has been a source of continuous frustration for the offense, beginning with rookie White’s stress fracture in June, continuing with Jeffery missing all preseason games with a calf injury, then regular season time with a hamstring, and Royal, taking a hammering with his playing time increased to fill the vacuum.
[MORE: John Fox has history against Andy Reid's West Coast offense]
All of which has left offensive coordinator Adam Gase with only being able to imagine what his offense could have been.
“As soon as [Jeffery] is ready to go, it'll be interesting to see kind of how we evolve and adapt and try and use him to his strengths,” Gase said, “and get him rolling as soon as they tell us that he's ready to go.”