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Bears linebacker T.J. Edwards.
The Chicago Bears have eliminated the Green Bay Packers from the NFL playoffs and are moving on to the divisional round next week, but they won’t have two of their starters available for the rest of their run after the latest injury news.
The Bears lost both veteran linebacker T.J. Edwards and rookie left tackle Ozzy Trapilo to injuries during their 31-27 comeback win over the Packers in the wild-card round.
Edwards accidentally stepped on Packers wide receiver Christian Watson’s foot while watching the quarterback early in the second quarter and crumbled to the ground in evident pain. The team quickly put an air cast around his left leg and carted him off into the locker room, ruling him out for the rest of the game in a matter of minutes.
Meanwhile, Trapilo suffered a knee injury on the Bears’ first play after the two-minute warning in the fourth quarter, making an extraordinary effort to hobble his way off the field to avoid his team wasting a timeout on what would be their game-winning drive.
Unfortunately, in both cases, the Bears aren’t expecting either back for the playoffs.
“TJ looks like he has a fibula fracture, which will take him out for the rest of the season here,” Bears head coach Ben Johnson said after the game. “Ozzy, it sounds like he has a [ruptured] patellar tendon, which will likely do the same thing for him. We’ll see what those guys are like tomorrow, but it does not look good for either one of those guys.”
Could Braxton Jones Replace Ozzy Trapilo for Bears?
The Bears survived without Edwards for most of the game and without Trapilo on their game-winning drive in the fourth quarter, but whether they can withstand those losses in the divisional round against either Los Angeles or Philadelphia is harder to predict.
Trapilo had a rough game against the Packers before his injury, but he allowed just two sacks and three quarterback hits on 283 pass-blocking snaps during the regular season after taking over as the Bears’ starting left tackle. Without him available, the Bears will likely need to decide between Theo Benedet, a 2024 UDFA, or veteran Braxton Jones.
In Jones’ case, the Bears would need to activate him from the injured reserve list before their next game for him to play, but he fully participated in all three practices for the wild-card game in his first week back since late October. He has 44 career starts at left tackle for the Bears and is due to become an unrestricted free agent in March 2026.
Bears May Need to Sign Another LB for Divisional Round
As for Edwards, the Bears might need to find outside help. D’Marco Jackson slotted in for him at the MIKE role against the Packers, but the Bears had just three linebackers — including practice-squad veteran Jaylin Reeves-Maybin — active after losing Edwards.
The Bears can remedy their depth issues if Amen Ogbongbemiga clears the concussion protocol this week — or if they are willing to trust fourth-round rookie Ruben Hyppolite II, who has been a healthy scratch for the team since Week 12’s win over Pittsburgh. If not, then a veteran free-agent addition could be in the cards for them this week.
The only other injury that the Bears sustained against the Packers — at least in terms of ones that forced a player to leave the field — was to veteran defensive tackle Andrew Billings, who had to leave the game late in the second quarter because of a hip injury.
Fortunately for the Bears, Billings returned to the game with about 10 minutes left in the third quarter against the Packers; though, he finished without a single tackle.
The Bears won’t know anything about their next opponent or kickoff time until after the San Francisco 49ers play the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, January 11. Chicago will either host the Los Angeles Rams (No. 5 seed) or the San Francisco 49ers (No. 6) in the divisional round, depending on whether the 49ers win their road wild-card matchup.
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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