Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show
Who among Bears' injured players will be available against Packers?
06 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: Who are the injured players for the Bears ahead of the Packers game?
Rahimi Harrison-Grody, middays 10 a.m. to 2 on 670 The Score.
This is Rahimi Harrison-Grody on 670 The Score, and I feel like we're asking one of the quintessential defensive coordinator questions of our time. There's bend, don't break. There's bend and break. There's bend, then break. And I feel like what Ben Johnson has talked about yesterday was as long as his team is limiting the points, that it's okay in the playoffs.
I don't know that it's okay in the playoffs. And I don't quite know how much it worked in the regular season this past few weeks. Mark Grody is more mad at Ben Johnson than I am. And Marshall says, as long as you're trying to limit the points, this is all. Do you think it's more on the offense than it is on the actual defense giving up yards?
If the Bears are limiting teams to 19 points per game in the playoffs, we are all saying, wow, look at how they were able to limit those offenses specifically. And the Lions have one of those offenses, by the way. Even though they had a bad year, their offense is still explosive. Really good. And so what I'm saying is simple as this. The Bears' defense is what it is.
It ain't getting any better, except that Ben Johnson has. I don't know why y'all haven't, but what I'm saying is he understands his offense has been dynamic, can be dynamic, and there's still more potential than what we've seen the last few weeks.
And if you missed the rest of that, go back, listen to the first segment on the Rewind app on our Odyssey app, the Rewind feature on the Odyssey app. But we don't have to repeat that part. Moving forward, I would also like to submit this for the class.
Yes.
The Seattle Seahawks performance against the same 49ers that the Bears gave up 42 points to. They had the exact opposite situation. Bears gave up 496 yards. Do you know how many the Seahawks allowed the Niners to have in total yards? 173 at home. That's a playoff defense, and I was about to cuss there. Where was that game again? In San Francisco. San Francisco.
I love it.
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Chapter 2: How does the Bears' defense need to perform against the Packers?
So what I'm saying is you can look at that one of two ways. That could be half glass empty or half glass full. Because if the Seahawks could only put up 13 points on the Niners... The Bears offense, when it's rolling, we saw what they can do to the 49ers. I think that's why Ben Johnson is so frustrated. That's why he was frustrated directly after the game.
That's why he looks at Monday after watching the tape. Hey, based on what our defense is capable of, you saw the Bears secondary running after people because they're just not fast enough. They're not healthy enough. This is what it is. They could try to scheme it up differently. Jaquan Brisker told us about that. But at the end of the day, if they're not creating turnovers, this is who they are.
And the Bears offense has to make up the slack. Let me give you one stat just to clear things up.
They didn't make up the slack. They didn't pick up the slack on Sunday.
No, that's what I'm saying. That's why Ben Johnson is frustrated because he knows they are capable of more than that. Six losses this season, right? The Bears have forced four turnovers and six losses. And in none of those games did they force more than one turnover. In 11 wins, the Bears have forced 29 turnovers. Okay? But here's the thing.
They only have three wins this season out of their 11 against teams that actually made the playoffs.
Okay?
That's the Steelers, who didn't have their starting quarterback. That's the Eagles, their best win of the season. And Green Bay, who didn't finish the game with their starting quarterback. They only had five forced turnovers in those three wins. So you have to understand, if they're going to win on Saturday night, they're probably going to have to win the turnover battle.
And they haven't been forcing those turnovers in this last stretch of games the way they were against those bad teams early in the season.
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Chapter 3: What strategies are the Bears considering for their offense?
Yes, sir.
The Lions played a first-place schedule. The Bears played a last-place schedule.
Stay tuned. Right. Exactly. The texter says here, Layla, not a wicked game like Chris Isaac plays, but a dangerous game. That is one of the most... I don't want to fall in love. Such an intense, dark... I've got to be in the right mood... It's an intense, dark week around here. ...to hear that song. Yeah, yeah, it is.
It shouldn't be.
be they're in the playoffs you know it's a scary week it's not intense outside in january i feel like i'm playing with house money let me be very clear if it wasn't the packers it would have a different feel to it but guess what it's the freaking packers also i appreciate the texter who pointed this out about that seahawks game they ran the ball ain't that the damn truth man run the ball and that'll help your time of possession maybe extend a few drives for you along the way
They tried to run the ball.
Glares in the direction of Hallis Hall.
They didn't run it very well. That was the worst they've looked running the football in a while, and that's what's concerning, because if you're the Packers... They ran it effectively in the first drive.
They just decided to run Menunga after Swift was able to get cut back.
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Chapter 4: How have injuries affected the Bears' secondary this season?
They thought they could rush four down linemen and cook. That's how the team was constructed.
No, I think the team was constructed, yes, to a degree. They thought they'd get more than what they've been getting. But I also think that they thought Kyler Gordon, the guy who gets mentioned by name in the Dennis Allen introductory press conference, would be available for more than what he's been available this year.
And like I said, even if he plays this week, are you really expecting Kyler Gordon, the one you remember?
Let's listen to Ben Johnson's confidence level when it came to asking about Kyler Gordon's availability.
Hey, Ben, are you going to bring Kyler Gordon back to practice this week?
That's the hope. I certainly do hope so. I don't know, but I hope so.
I hope that I work out six times.
You know what this goes back to, Layla Mark? You know what this goes back to? When he was asked about Kyler Gordon as a player, and he's like, I really don't know the guy.
And you know what? I didn't think that he was dissing on Kyler Gordon there. I think he was just pointing out that because he was injured, he's just not at the facility. Mark, when you heard Ben Johnson say that, that's the hope.
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Chapter 5: What is the significance of the turnover battle in the upcoming game?
Yikes. I guess we'll find out more about the, what day is today?
Tuesday.
They're doing a walkthrough today, but he wasn't mentioned following the game as being a guy that Ben Johnson was concerned about. And check me out. He is scheduled to be a guest with us tonight on the Take the North podcast. He's going to be on at 625. How fancy are you? 625.
Hey, more about that Take the North podcast. Tell him the truth, Gertie. Tell him what it is.
Tell the truth. Tonight, starting at 6 for a special live playoff edition of Take the North with Dan Wiederer and me. Wheezy! I'm Mark Grody. We'll be joined. It says they'll be joined. We'll be joined by Cole Komet at 625, getting you set for the Bears versus the Packers in the wildcard round. That is tonight from 6 to 8 on the score and the Odyssey app.
Subscribe to the Take the North podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you, Layla.
Mark Grody.
Yeah, you got to get the promo off. I mean, what are we doing here?
Yeah, it's right here in front of me.
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Chapter 6: What role does Kyler Gordon play in the Bears' defense?
Yeah, and because of the short week, this would typically be an off day, but everything slides. Also, I think a texter brought this up yesterday or somebody said on social media, and it was really valid. What's Jonathan Owens' role in all of this as well? Because he's available. So how he gets put together in all of this.
He was such a big part of what happened last year defensively for this team. It's a fair question to ask. Do other people slide and maybe he steps in? That's what makes this so difficult to try to put together.
Yeah, I mean, it's a great point, Layla, because you're right. He was much more present last year. And I don't know the exact answer, but it does tell me that he just wasn't one of the guys that Dennis Allen identified as somebody who he was going to circle and highlight and be a big part of things.
That's my best guess on Jonathan Owens, but I could probably find out more on Thursday when I actually am out there.
The way I see it is he's been relegated to a special teams player. And even though he did make some plays, he had some impactful plays last year. It's not like he was on a good defense last year. So it's hard for me to understand why, other than being forced in with injury, why he'd all of a sudden have a prominent role on a team that through 17 games he has not had a role.
Yeah, no, he is not. That's a great point, and you almost never hear his name. I mean, either special teams, as you said, yes, but not defensively.
Well, and especially on some of those special defensive packages that they had last year, he was on the field, depending on how they wanted to formulate secondary. So that's why I thought it was a valid point. He is an available body in all of this. Yeah, no doubt. Unfortunately, wrong position, right? Yeah. So that's the issue is safety is not necessarily the need right now.
You heard it more when Jaquan Brisker was injured. But I don't know if they would be confident enough in remixing him the way they do with C.D. Gardner-Johnson, for example, who has experience at two different positions. So there's that part of it, too. We want to know what you think. We've got some calls here, 312-644-6767.
Are you okay with the Bears' defense just focusing on points to face the Packers? We continue to discuss it and measure our confidence index as well next.
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