Team news: Chicago Bears | Page 2

Bears RB Roschon Johnson, who met with reporters after Tuesday's practice, was held out today with a foot injury.

Related Players: D'Andre Swift, Kyle Monangai

Hopefully this is just a minor setback, as Johnson had been seeing some work with the 1's in training camp, along with Swift. If Johnson is healthy by Week 1, there's a good chance he's being undervalued as a late-round option as a goal-line option with pass-catching opportunities.

Roschon Johnson feels like a lock to be the Bears' short yardage/goal-line running back again this year, but also on third down (where he was utilized on 51% of offensive snaps in 2024). "I think it'll just help us out when we get in those tough games, when we get in those situations where we really need to home something in and scheme something up," Roschon Johnson said. "I think the playbook is definitely detailed enough for us to do that."

Related Players: D'Andre Swift, Kyle Monangai

This kinda squashes any hype surrounding Monangai, but as a seventh-round rookie, those expectations should have been tempered anyway. We could still see him rotated in, and Swift is still the No. 1 option, but this opens up some fantasy goodness for Johnson, who is being taken deep in the double-digit rounds, but could be an RB3/4 if the Bears offense gets rolling. We currently have him ranked as a low-end RB4.

Bears rookie wide receiver Luther Burden III is present for practice and in full pads.

Related Players: D.J. Moore, Rome Odunze, Olamide Zaccheaus, Tyler Scott, Devin Duvernay

Burden's got some time here to rev up to full speed, which makes this wide receiver room incredibly interesting. The rookie has been absent due to a hamstring issue, and now has the opportunity to push the veteran Zaccheaus for a role in 3WR sets. Burden is deep down our current WR rankings, but could begin the slow climb the more he gets integrated into the offense.

It’s cliché to choose the second-year, top-10 pick. But Rome Odunze’s rookie season seemed more disappointing than it actually was. He was fifth among rookies in receiving yards (734) and caught only 53.5 percent of passes thrown his way. However, Odunze served as an example of the inconsistency that plagued the 2024 Bears offense. — Kevin Fishbain

The story went on to say Odunze didn’t meet outside expectations, but it’s not because he was dropping passes or running poor routes. With a better scheme and improved quarterback play, he should take off in Year 2, according to Fishbain. Odunze will likely be a more popular pick this draft season.

The Lions have exercised the 2026 fifth-year team options on DE Aidan Hutchison and WR Jameson Williams.

Related Players: Amon-Ra St. Brown, Tim Patrick, Kalif Raymond, Tom Kennedy

Good news for fantasy, as there aren't many better places for Williams to be than alongside ARSB and Sam LaPorta clogging up the middle of defenses. Williams should continue to operate as a nice boom-bust WR3 option, even if the Lions tack on some WR talent through the NFL Draft.

The Steelers ruled out WR George Pickens and QB Justin Fields for Saturday vs. Baltimore.

OLB T.J. Watt (ankle) is off the injury report and will play.

Related Players: Calvin Austin III, Van Jefferson, Mike Williams, Scott Miller

We really can't trust any of these ancillary pieces with Pickens missing, and it comes as a huge downgrade to Russell Wilson and the offense, in general.

Steelers WR George Pickens was listed as did not practice today, TJ Watt was listed as limited.

Related Players: Calvin Austin III, Van Jefferson, Mike Williams, Scott Miller

We really can't be trusting any of these ancillary pieces of Pickens misses, and it would come as a huge downgrade to Russell Wilson and the offense, in general. This is a decent matchup for Pickens, so we'll keep an eye on whether or not he can clear ahead of kickoff.

D'Andre Swift was not listed among the Bears inactives for Monday Night Football.

Related players: Roschon Johnson, Travis Homer, Darrynton Evans

It's a tough matchup for Swift who should see a nice workload against the Vikings at least. Over the last three games, Swift hasn't gone over 40 yards rushing, averaging over 12 carries in that three-game span. He's also averaged a little over two receptions the last three games. Back on Nov. 24, Swift ran for 30 yards and had three catches for 35 yards against the Vikings. Johnson is inactive which leaves Homer and Evans behind Swift.

Steelers ruled out wide receiver George Pickens for Sunday’s game against the Eagles due to his hamstring injury.

Related Players: Calvin Austin III, Mike Williams, Scott Miller, Van Jefferson

We really can't trust any of the Pittsburgh WR options here in the first round of the playoffs, particularly against the Eagles' defense. Russell Wilson can also comfortably be faded in all formats.

Injury report:
OUT
Ryan Bates
Elijah Hicks
Roschon Johnson

QUESTIONABLE
D.J. Moore
D'Andre Swift

Related Players: Travis Homer, Keenan Allen, Rome Odunze

Is it Travis Homer season? It certainly seems possible, and he should be snatched up just in case for teams desperate at the RB position.

Allen and Odunze would both get a hefty bump to their floor outcomes if Moore were to miss, as well.