Chicago Bears: Implications of Bilal Nichols’ broken hand

The Chicago Bears will be without Bilal Nichols on Monday night. The young defensive end suffered a broken hand in Week 2 and will be unavailable against Washington.

Reports came out today that Chicago Bears defensive end Bilal Nichols suffered a broken hand against Denver last Sunday. Bilal Nichols had yet to show much on the stat sheet but has been playing well this season. This was supposed to be his breakout year after a strong 2018 performance with limited snaps.

Luckily for the Bears, they are pretty deep on the defensive line. Akiem Hicks will still anchor the outside while Eddie Goldman will handle the middle. Roy Robertson-Harris should see more snaps now in place of Nichols. Robertson-Harris has looked good this season, recording a sack against the Packers in Week 1 and being a constant nuisance behind the line of scrimmage.

The Chicago Bears also have Nick Williams who they could use as a rotational piece. As of now, it looks as the Nichols will not need to go on IR. Matt Nagy and the team believe they can construct some type of club that will allow Nichols to still play until the injury is healed.

I am glad Nichols is not going to have to miss too many games, but having a club on his hand will make him less effective. Remember Leonard Floyd last season? He too broke his hand early on in the year and was less efficient with the club. He also plays outside linebacker, a position that does not require putting your hands on the ground. Even if Nichols can play, I’d expect his snap count to be greatly reduced until the club is gone.

The Bears have yet to make a corresponding move this week in regards to Nichols likely not playing on Monday. With Nichols not playing Monday night, I wonder if they will activate Abdullah Anderson. Anderson was released and signed back to the practice squad when the team signed tight end J.P. Holtz who was released by Washington after Week 1.

The team had also been taking a look at some of the outside linebackers who are currently on the street. Will the loss of Bilal Nichols for any length of time mean the team looks at bringing in more of an edge presence?

Does this instead mean they take a serious look at defensive end Taco Charlton who was released by the Cowboys this week? Personally, I think they are fine, but you can never have too many edge rushers, no matter where they lineup.

As someone who thought Nichols was going to shine this season, I am bummed to hear about this news. The only solace I take in it is that I am also a big fan of Roy Robertson-Harris who now has the opportunity to make a bigger name for himself. Luckily, the Bears should be able to absorb this injury as the team did not miss a beat against Denver after Nichols left the game.