The Chicago Bears' defense played so well on Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings that one could barely notice one of their key pieces was missing. After being ruled out of the game just hours before the Bears were set to take the field against the Vikings due to personal reasons, head coach Matt Nagy confirmed his return to practice Wednesday.
Two positive practice updates: #Chiefs WR Tyreek Hill (clavicle) will practice today, coach Andy Reid told reporters, as he ramps up. … And #Bears coach Matt Nagy said LB Roquan Smith will be full go in practice as he returns from being out with personal reasons.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 2, 2019
Besides what was reported, Nagy refused to go into Smith's absence further, leaving people to question how long he would remain out. The Bears didn't seem to miss a beat as they held the Vikings to three points the entire game and stuffed the league's rushing leader to that point, Dalvin Cook, to just 35 rushing yards on 14 attempts.
Cook had previously rushed for over 110 yards in each of his first three games, with at least one score in each as well. Smith's teammates on the defensive side of the ball did not seem too worried with leader Khalil Mack stating, “It’s in-house, we know he’s going to get better and we look forward to him getting back out there with us.”
Chicago has a favorable matchup against the Oakland Raiders this Sunday as Smith will look to pick up where he left off. With Smith's help, they will look to stop rookie running back Josh Jacobs in the same way they were able to stop Cook.
So far, Smith has 15 tackles on the season and he will look to get his first sack of the season this Sunday.
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