Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images
When Bears coach Matt Eberflus said he was going to mock a game week in the final week of the preseason, the actual game against the Bills didn’t figure to be included in that plan.
With 14 or more players either not practicing because of injury or in ramp-up mode this week, Eberflus and general manager Ryan Poles seemed more likely to prioritize getting healthy and avoiding injury over game-speed reps. There aren’t that many fringe players on the list of absentees, either — safeties Eddie Jackson and Jaquan Brisker, linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, defensive ends Yannick Ngakoue and DeMarcus Walker, guards Teven Jenkins and Nate Davis, rookie right tackle Darnell Wright and wide receiver Chase Claypool among them.