3 things we learned from the Chicago Bears, including Kyler Gordon going on IR and Eddie Jackson’s frustration with artificial turf

The Chicago Bears practiced Thursday at Halas Hall to prepare for Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium.

Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, special teams coordinator Richard Hightower and players spoke with the media before and after practice. Defensive coordinator Alan Williams was away from the team for personal reasons.

Here are three things we learned.

1. Nickel cornerback Kyler Gordon will miss at least the next four games after the Bears placed him on injured reserve.

Gordon suffered a hand injury when he blitzed on a third-quarter play Sunday against the Green Bay Packers.

Now the Bears will be without a key cog in their defense until at least Week 6 against the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field.

The Bears elevated cornerback Greg Stroman Jr. from the practice squad. Coach Matt Eberflus said Wednesday the team still was sorting through its options for who would replace Gordon against the Buccaneers.

Second-year pro Josh Blackwell filled in against the Packers, but he sat out practice Thursday as he deals with a hamstring injury. The Bears also have backup cornerbacks Jaylon Jones, Stroman and rookie Terell Smith on the roster.

Gordon, a 2022 second-round pick, had three interceptions, six passes defended, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, 71 tackles and two tackles for a loss in 14 games as a rookie.

The Bears hoped to see him make strides in his second season as he focused solely on the nickel spot with rookie Tyrique Stevenson playing outside cornerback. Now that progress will be delayed.

“Prayers to Ky. He’s a great player. Young player,” safety Eddie Jackson said. “You were kind of excited for him for this season because he was playing well all camp. Even in preseason, you saw it. So for him to go down in the first game was tough for us to watch.

“But it’s always that next-man-up mentality, and someone has to come in and take advantage of the opportunity.”

2. Seeing Aaron Rodgers go down with a torn Achilles tendon at MetLife Stadium brought back bad memories for Eddie Jackson.

Jackson suffered a season-ending Lisfranc injury in November at MetLife Stadium, which this year replaced its slit-film turf with a different artificial surface. He said he felt “sick” watching Rodgers suffer the injury.

Even though Rodgers was a longtime rival with the Packers, Jackson was excited to see what he would do with the New York Jets. That the injury happened in the same place as Jackson’s on artificial turf made the Bears safety feel worse.

“You get kind of frustrated with it because I know a lot of players have gone down on that field,” Jackson said. “I know the NFLPA has been talking about making changes to the fields and playing surfaces. So it was just tough.”

After Rodgers’ injury Monday, the NFL Players Association renewed its push for all teams to install natural grass surfaces. The Bears have natural grass at Halas Hall and Soldier Field.

“The players overwhelmingly prefer it, and the data is clear that grass is simply safer than artificial turf,” NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell said in a statement. “It is an issue that has been near the top of the players’ list during my team visits and one I have raised with the NFL.”

Bears wide receiver and punt returner Trent Taylor played on the controversial slit-film turf with the Cincinnati Bengals. He didn’t know the turf was a big deal until somebody told him to start paying attention to how his body felt after playing on it versus grass.

“Anytime we would go practice on it, I was never a fan of it because I knew my joints and my legs would feel it afterward a little more than they would on grass,” Taylor said. “If it was up to me, I think everyone should get grass. My body feels better on grass.”

Wide receiver Darnell Mooney also suffered a season-ending ankle injury on the MetLife Stadium turf in November, but he said he’s used to playing on artificial turf, including at Tulane.

“I’ve been playing on turf all my life until I got to the league, so turf is fine for me,” Mooney said. “My body is kind of used to it, so I’m good on either.”

3. Luke Getsy didn’t view his game plan against the Packers as too conservative.

Getsy said he looks for “advantageous looks” when coming up with a game plan. The Bears have harped on their perimeter blocking this week after multiple failures in the short passing game in the 38-20 loss.

Getsy pointed to execution and details that need to be cleaned up.

“It sounds like screens have been a conversation, but (it was) a poor motion landmark and a couple of poor blocks,” Getsy said. “But if you watch the film, we have everybody accounted for and there’s nobody else out there. If we can just capture that edge, those are 15-, 25-yard gains and you guys are patting me on my back. And I get it. That’s part of it.

“My point is we’re going to make decisions based on what we feel is advantageous to our guys having opportunities. Now, we have to do better. We have to coach it better. We have to make sure that guys execute it better. That’s where we have to get better at it for sure.”