The Bears have lost safety Coby Bryant to an eight-to-10 week left knee inury. From the Chicago Tribune:
“Bryant signed a three-year, $40 million contract in free agency with the Bears in March. He won a Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks last season.”
“Tight end Colston Loveland was nearby when Bryant exited practice.
“‘It always sucks to see,” Loveland said. ‘That’s always part of (the game), but he’s tough, he’s a dog.’
With Bryant sidelined for the defense, veteran safety Cam Lewis stepped into the starting lineup alongside rookie Dillon Thieneman. Backup Elijah Hicks (shin) has been sidelined since camp started, but he could be another option at safety when he returns. Cornerback Jaylon Jones worked at the nickel with Kyler Gordon (calf) still out.
Bryant was the premier free agent addition to the Bears. Along with Thieneman the plan was to build an elite defense on the backend to help offset a suspect pass rush. The new safety lineup would have allowed a lot of versatility schematically. But now, especially when you add Bryant’s loss to the fact that Gordon has been unable to find his way onto the field, all of that is on hold.
One thing is for sure. The Bears don’t have a good replacement on hand.
Hicks has been with the Bears a long time. He knows his way around the defense. But he has primarily been a special teamer.
Lewis was an undrafted free agent with the Bills whose strength is also special teams. He’s a versatile performer, having played multiple positions across the secondary, including slot cornerback, outside cornerback, and safety. He was already playing some nickel behind Gordon.
Though lewis is decent in run support, his coverage is suspect with a 2025 PFF coverage grade of 54.5, ranking 67th among 98 qualified safeties. His overall PFF defensive grade of 57.5 ranked 77th among qualified safeties.
It wouldn’t be much of an exaggeration to say that Bryant was the player on defense the Bears could least afford to lose. Debatably, only the loss of Montez Sweat from a shallow pass rush group would have been worse. Jaylon Johnson is probably their best player but they have more depth at outside corner to back him up.
The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. As was the case last year, defensive coordinator Dennis Allen will have his work cut out for him this season as he watches his initial plans already going up in smoke.