Chicago Bears: Roquan Smith tackles personal matter

Roquan Smith addressed the media on Wednesday and announced that his personal matter is behind him. He also stated he expects to play on Sunday in London.

The Chicago Bears are sitting 3-1 and tied with the Packers for the best record in the NFC North. Last week against the Minnesota Vikings, a bombshell of news came out not long before kickoff. The team announced Roquan Smith will be a healthy scratch for a personal reason, but would not disclose the details of that reason.

Social media blew up with rumors circulating about a drunken car crash. That story was squashed rather quickly but based on Smith’s reported erratic behavior throughout the week, many (myself included) started speculating that Smith was dealing with mental health issues. As someone who has dealt with clinical depression, I was sympathetic to these nonestablished reports.

In fact, I took to Twitter to share my thoughts on how mental health is a serious issue and should not be taken lightly. Some did not like me saying this because it made it seem like I was verifying Smith has some type of mental health concerns going on. The point here is that if he did, that is okay and he needs to put himself first. If he was not dealing with them, well he has every right to keep that matter to himself if he so chooses.

Today though, Smith told the media that he has put his personal matter behind him and he plans on playing this Sunday in London. He was a full go in practice and just wants to get back to focusing on playing football.

The team must be thrilled that Roquan Smith is back. Despite the Chicago Bears defense playing well against the Vikings last week, the team needs the speed of Smith against the Raiders on Sunday. Nick Kwiatkoski had one of his best professional games, but it helped that the Vikings continued to try and run the ball without success.

Kwiatkoski has always been a solid role player for this team. He excels on special teams and shows up when needed on defense. However, the one thing he lacks compared to the Bears’ young, budding superstar is speed.

The sideline-to-sideline speed of Roquan Smith and Danny Trevathan makes them one of the best tandems in the NFL. Their speed allows them to slow down the screens and check downs to the running backs. Plus, they are fast enough to keep up with the quicker tight ends in the game. This will be important as the Bears face off against both a solid running back and tight end this week.

Josh Jacobs has not been utilized in the passing game often, but he does enough to make you have to keep an eye on him. Darren Waller has been excellent at the tight end position. These two plus Tyrell Williams are the guys the Bears defense needs to keep an eye on in London. The good news is that with Smith back, this team should have no problems manhandling the Raiders.

Remember, this is the Khalil Mack revenge game. I fully expect this defense to show up for the best player on the Bears roster. The question is, can the offense continue to do just enough to keep winning? This week, the answer should easily be yes.