At this point, it's probably safe to assume that Danny Trevathan isn't coming back anytime soon.
The Bears had no official update on Monday morning, but Matt Nagy's lack of optimsim was telling all the same. Monday press conferences typically operate like an extended film review, but the coach had very little to say about that play.
"Yeah. It’s not real pretty," he said. "But it’s a part of this game. You hate to see that, so we’ll see how that goes moving forward."
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Trevathan was scheduled to get an MRI today, and Nagy had mentioned in his postgame press conference that it'd probably be "a few days" before the team really knew the extent of it. Still, the pictures of his bent elbow are pretty graphic, and the linebacker was already in a sling by the time media members were allowed into the locker room. From the look and sounds of things, putting Trevathan on IR seems more likely than not.
"It could be," Nagy admitted. "Again, we’ll know more here in the next couple of days, but we’ll see where it goes as far as weeks are concerned."
Another not-insignificant ripple effect of any prolonged Trevathan absence is a lack of vocal leadership in the huddle. With Trevathan and defensive tackle Akiem Hicks sidelined for the forseeable future, the Bears defense now has to find the subtle balance between finding someone to fill the void and forcing them to be someone they're not, a cardinal sin of the Nagy Era Bears.
"They’re two of the more vocal guys on that side of the ball," Nagy said. "When you lose a guy like Danny in the middle, that leadership part, you lose a little bit...
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"It’s hard, just because there is so much between the two. Just their personalities in general – they’re both a little bit different, with how they handle their personalities. But they’re very similar on the field, leadership-wise. As we move forward here, we’ll have guys that are always ready and prepared and the coaches will have them the same way."
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