The Chicago Bears and Cincinnati Bengals are facing off in Week 9, and things have already gone wrong for the road team. Bengals' kick returner Charlie Jones took the opening kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown to give the Bengals a 7-0 lead out of the gate.

It's not the way the Bears wanted to start, especially after their loss against the Baltimore Ravens last week. Luckily, they still have the whole game to bounce back, and the hope for them is that they can respond. The offense and the defense have been up and down this season, and they're still looking to find some consistency.

The Bears have also had several injuries to their defense this season, and they added some depth earlier in the week by signing CJ Gardner-Johnson. For him, he's able to reunite with defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, as he played for him when he was with the New Orleans Saints.

Article Continues Below

It's been a rollercoaster calendar year for Gardner-Johnson, as this will be his fourth team in less than a year. He won the Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles in February, and then was traded to the Houston Texans in the offseason. He was then released in September and signed with the Baltimore Ravens' practice squad in October, and was released a week later.

On offense, the Bears will be without D'Andre Swift this week, after he suffered a groin injury against the Ravens. Head coach Ben Johnson spoke about the injury at the end of the practice week.

“It's really been a chronic thing for a while now. I think it probably goes earlier than (Washington) D.C. that he's been feeling something,” Johnson said via CHGO Sports' Adam Jahns.

“And so we're just doing our due diligence to make sure we're getting the best version of Swift to help this team, for him and his individual success. We just want to make sure we have him in a good spot for the whole season.”