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Bears head coach Ben Johnson.
Chicago Bears edge rusher Austin Booker will likely miss the start of the 2025 regular season with a knee injury that cut his impressive preseason short.
Following Friday’s preseason finale, Bears head coach Ben Johnson told reporters that Booker — who leads the NFL with four sacks — is expected to miss “a few weeks” as he recovers from the injury that he sustained in last Sunday’s win over the Buffalo Bills.
Booker did not participate in practice during the final week of 2025 training camp. He also did not suit up in Friday’s 29-27 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs, which raised concerns about the 2024 fifth-round pick’s availability for the start of the new season.
Booker had made a strong case for a larger role in the Bears’ pass-rushing rotation over the past month. He delivered a strong camp and tallied eight tackles, four sacks, a pass breakup and a forced fumble in two preseason games, virtually locking down the No. 3 pass rusher role for the Bears behind starters Montez Sweat and Dayo Odeyingbo.
Instead, the Bears must now pivot in a new direction until Booker is healthy again.
Austin Booker Has Breakout Potential for Bears in 2025
Booker’s injury is discouraging for the Bears. Depending on the severity, they may even entertain the possibility of placing him on injured reserve (with a return designation) at the roster cutdown deadline on Tuesday, which would sideline him at least four games.
That said, if Booker can return quickly, he could be in line for a breakout second season.
The Bears took an understood gamble on Booker when they traded back into the fifth round of the 2024 NFL draft to select him. They expected him to be a raw talent who would likely need at least a year to grow into a formidable pass rusher — and rightly so. He managed just 1.5 sacks and three tackles for loss on 283 defensive snaps as a rookie.
A year later, though, Booker is showing signs of paying off the Bears’ patience. He has started to figure out how to better use his length and explosive athleticism to win his reps and affect the quarterback. He is also playing in a more aggressive scheme under new defensive coordinator Dennis Allen that should play to his natural strengths.
Even down in the No. 3 role on the depth chart, the conditions are ripe for Booker to make a name for himself in 2025 — so long as he can bounce back from his injury.
Which Edge Rushers Will Make Bears’ 53-Man Roster?
While the Bears are not planning on Booker missing significant time, his injury could influence their decision-making process at the position during the roster cutdown.
The Bears will likely want at least four healthy defensive ends on their initial 53-man roster, even if that means rostering five at the position to bridge the gap until Booker is healthy enough to return to the field. That’s good news for Dominique Robinson, Daniel Hardy and Tanoh Kpassagnon, who are all vying for roles as rotational pass rushers.
At this stage, Hardy probably has the weakest case of the three of them, but he did log a sack against the Chiefs in Friday night’s game and adds value as a special-teams player. Perhaps it will help him bump Kpassagnon — who played for Allen in New Orleans — to the roster bubble in his place; though, Kpassagnon holds the experience advantage.
The Bears must make their 53-man roster cuts by 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday, August 26.
Jordan J. Wilson is a sports reporter who covers the NFL and MLB for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers. He has previously covered all levels of sports — high school, college and pro — for a variety of publications including The Indianapolis Star, The News-Gazette, Springfield State-Journal Register and Peoria Journal Star. More about Jordan J. Wilson
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