Add another name to the list of the Bears’ wounded: Tyson Bagent.
The backup quarterback did not practice Tuesday because of a hamstring injury suffered in Saturday’s 34-10 exhibition win against the Browns, a source said. The injury not considered serious — Bagent played every snap he was scheduled to Saturday and spoke to the media afterward — but it’s unclear if he’ll be ready to face the Bengals in four days.
At least that injury happened in the game.
The Bears have lost five prominent players to serious injury — one that lasts a week or longer — suffered during one of the team’s 15 training camp practices.
Bears coach Ben Johnson believes in holding grueling practices to get ready for the season. That’s not going to change.
“I think we’ve had some pretty physical practices, and I feel really good about where we’re at,” he said before Tuesday’s practice. “I thought it translated to that game. Our physicality showed up Week 1 on all three phases, so I’m pretty pleased with that right now.”
He acknowledged, though, the toll that such physicality can take. He said he and his staff are constantly trying to fine-tune their practice schedules.
“We turn the dial every single day,” Johnson said. “We look at what we’re doing, how we’re doing it and we always adjust and we’re going to continue to do that.
“We have a method to what we’re doing. Our guys believe in it. We believe in it and I feel really good about the path that we’re on.”
Maybe it’s just bad luck?
“There are things that you can’t control sometimes,” he said.
Head coaches, though, need to be in control. In just his second season, Johnson needs to navigate a new challenge — how to get his starters to Week 1 when someone seems to get hurt in practice nearly every day.
That’s more daunting than it was in Johnson’s first training camp, when he held one legendarily violent practice to instill in his players what he wanted to see in games. When the Dolphins came to town for a joint practice last year, they were overwhelmed — and almost offended — by the Bears’ physicality.
Johnson’s players, though, weren’t getting injured in practice at this rate last year.
On Sunday, running back Kyle Monangai became the fifth prominent Bears player to suffer a serious injury during practice. The others:
• Safety Coby Bryant, the team’s big-money free agent acquisition, who will miss most of the season after needing surgery on his knee. He suffered a hyperextension, bone bruise and break during an Aug. 3 practice.
• Wide receiver Luther Burden hurt his groin Aug. 8 when he and cornerback Tyrique Stevenson both reached for a potential touchdown pass in one-on-one drills.
• Defensive end Montez Sweat, who was hurt Aug. 6, returned Sunday to practice in full.
• Left tackle Braxton Jones, who was hurt the same day, has since returned from a knee injury.
• And Monangai, who is “week-to-week,” Johnson said Tuesday after hurting his knee Sunday when he became tangled with defensive tackle Grady Jarrett on a running play.
Even more standouts showed up to camp hurt.
Cornerback Kyler Gordon continues to rehab a calf injury that has somehow limited him for months. The Bears have done a terrible job hiding their frustration with the injury. For the second time in four days, Johnson was tight-lipped about Gordon when asked about his progress. He said there was “nothing to add” about his injury, before adding, vaguely, that “there’s a plan, and he’s working toward the plan.”
Starting Linebacker T.J. Edwards got a late start to camp after hurting his calf while training off-site. Ozzy Trapilo, the Bears’ starting left tackle, returned to practice Sunday in a shockingly fast recovery from a patellar tendon injury.
The injuries kept coming Tuesday, too, of course. Cornerback Tyrique Stevenson wasn’t in attendance. Kiran Amegadjie, who along with Jedrick Wills was moved off of left tackle before practice, left with a trainer.
The Bears will hold a light practice Wednesday before flying to Cincinnati for a joint practice Thursday. Maybe then they’ll be able to tell just how rough-and-tumble they’ve become — and whether it was worth it.