REPORT: Bears OL Sam Mustipher dealing with injury

Injuries and COVID-19 are impacting the offensive line of the Chicago Bears so much they may need to resort to planting discarded election campaign signs in front of quarterback Nick Foles just to give him some sort of protection.

Following the news of starting right tackle Bobby Massie going on injured reserve due to a knee injury and reserve tackle Jason Spriggs testing positive for COVID-19, while guard Germain Ifedi needs to quarantine as a “close contact,”the Bears might possibly be dealt yet another blow.

According to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, center Sam Mustipher was injured during Sunday’s loss to the New Orleans Saints. Although he finished the game, “it’s believed Mustipher will miss time,” writes Biggs.

Mustipher, starting his first NFL game after signing with the Bears as an undrafted free agent in 2019, was already filling in for starting center Cody Whitehair, who missed Sunday’s game due to a calf injury and may be out for this week’s game as well.

If Whitehair and Mustipher are unable to go against the Tennessee Titans, guard Alex Bars would likely be the team’s starting center. Bars was practicing snaps prior to last week’s game in case Mustipher went down.

With Massie and Spriggs already out and Ifedi, Whitehair, and now Mustipher all questionable, the Bears may need to get creative to shore up their biggest weakness on offense.

They already promoted rookie offensive lineman Lachavious Simmons from the practice squad to correspond with the Massie move and will likely activate their other rookie offensive lineman Arlington Hambright for the first time this season. If all else fails, those election signs will be available soon enough.