New Bears defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano won’t have his new starting safety tandem in place to start training camp.
General manager Ryan Pace announced Sunday that Ha Ha Clinton-Dix will be one of three players who will be placed on the physically unable to perform list when the team reports to Bourbonnais, Illinois later this week.
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Joining the safety on the sideline is a pair of other offseason acquisitions; outside linebacker Jonathan Harris and offensive tackle T.J. Clemmings will also start on the PUP list.
Pace didn’t seem overly concerned with Clinton-Dix’s knee sprain, which he considered minor, but it’s been more than a month since the injury occurred.
The veteran safety hasn’t missed a game in his NFL career, and he’s played more than 1,000 snaps in every season, so durability isn’t a long-term concern. But he’s one of the few new pieces in the Bears defense looking to avoid regression, and Pagano will need to work out the kinks of pairing Clinton-Dix with a similar style of player in Eddie Jackson.
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