The Bears have four healthy receivers remaining on their roster in DJ Moore, Olamide Zaccheaus, Devin Duvernay and Jahdae Walker, and two on their practice squad in Maurice Alexander and JP Richardson.
“I’ve been really pleased with that room,” said coach Ben Johnson. “We’ve got some young guys in there that we were really impressed with throughout training camp that ended up being on the practice squad. If called upon, they’ve done a great job soaking the offense in over the course of the season so far and being involved. Coach ‘El’ (Antwaan Randle El) has done a great job with them just keeping them engaged and walking through. They’re in a great spot and I feel that way about all the guys that are either on the practice squad or have been primarily special teams players to this point.”
Moore starred last Sunday against Cleveland, catching four passes for 69 yards and two touchdowns, and will lead the depleted receiving corps into Saturday night’s game.
“We’ve still got a job to do,” Moore said. “The people coming in will do their job and do it to the best of their ability and we’ll just go out there and play football.”
Throughout Johnson’s first season as Bears coach, reserves and practice squad players have excelled when called upon to replace injured teammates. Examples include cornerback Nahshon Wright, who leads the NFL with eight takeaways; and linebacker D’Marco Jackson, who was named NFC Defensive Player of the Week after recording an interception and a sack against the Browns.
Others who have stepped up include left tackle Ozzy Trapilo, running back Brittain Brown, linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga and defensive back Nick McCloud.
“We just seem to figure it out,” said tight end Cole Kmet. “It’s always the next-man-up mentality and I think we’ve really embodied that this year. There’s no hesitation from the coaching staff. You never feel that. They’re always onto the next when a guy goes down, and they’ve got a lot of faith in everybody that’s in here.”
In other injury news, Ogbongbemiga (hamstring) has been ruled out and four Bears are questionable: Kmet (ankle/knee), running back D’Andre Swift (groin), defensive end Joe Tryon-Shoyinka (personal) and linebacker Tremaine Edmunds (groin).
Kmet and Edmunds were full participants in practice Thursday after being limited Wednesday, while Swift was limited for the second straight day.
Edmunds has missed the last four contests and remains on injured reserve. But the Bears opened his 21-day practice window Monday and can activate him prior to the Packers contest. The veteran linebacker started the first 10 games this season, registering 89 tackles, four interceptions and nine pass breakups.
“If we can get Tremaine back, it’s a huge bonus,” Johnson said. “He was playing tremendous football before the injury. He’s a huge asset in coverage, just because of how long he is. It’s hard to get the ball around him when we’re playing zones, and he’s really good in our match and man’s where he can match up on tight ends and running backs out of the backfield and do a really good job there.
“[Packers running back] Josh Jacobs is a heck of a pass catcher. He probably doesn’t get enough credit for that part of his game. That’s something that we need to do a good job taking care of. Tremaine could potentially really help us in that regard.”
For the Packers, four starters are questionable: Jacobs (knee/ankle), right tackle Zach Tom (back/knee), receiver Christian Watson (chest/shoulder) and safety Evan Williams (knee). Jacobs, Tom and Williams did not practice all week, while Watson was limited Thursday.
