David Montgomery and Jaylon Johnson did not participate in Bears practice on Thursday, making it two absences in a row for each man. Montgomery is working through ankle and knee injuries, while Johnson is dealing with a quadriceps injury. Johnson hurt himself during Bears practice last week and wasn’t able to play against the Texans. Montgomery hurt himself in the first quarter of Sunday’s game and never returned to the field. Eberflus said each man is doing well in his rehab.
Roquan Smith remained a limited participant with a quad injury. He missed practice last week with a hip injury, but the quad injury was new on Wednesday. Despite not participating at all in practice last week, Smith was able to play, and play well against the Texans.
Robert Quinn and Cairo Santos each popped up on Thursday’s injury report, too. Quinn missed practice with an illness, while Santos missed due to personal reasons. Special teams player Sterling Weatherford also popped up as a limited participant, with an ankle injury, after practicing in full on Wednesday.
Rookie wide receiver Velus Jones Jr. turned in another limited practice on Thursday, and hasn’t practiced in full at any point during the regular season. Jones Jr. has battled a hamstring injury throughout the summer and hasn’t made his regular season debut yet. He hasn’t played since Week 2 of the preseason.
Finally, Starting SAM linebacker Matt Adams and backup safety Dane Cruikshank remained non-participants with hamstring injuries, and backup tight end Ryan Griffin was downgraded from limited on Wednesday to DNP on Thursday with an Achilles injury. None of those guys played last week, with Joe Thomas playing the majority of the starting SAM snaps against the Texans.