Chicago Bears News: Eddie Goldman surprisingly trending downward

After opting out of the 2020 NFL season, Chicago Bears starting nose tackle Eddie Goldman faced an uncertain future. There were whispers that he may end up considering retirement before playing another down.

However, Goldman ended up in training camp after all and looked ready to take on another season.

As Chicago prepares to face the NFC powerhouse that is the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday Night Football in Week 1, Goldman’s status is suddenly up in the air.

In fact, it is worse than just up in the air. Wednesday morning, his status would have been considered up in the air. Now, it’s in significant doubt.

Chicago Bears nose tackle Eddie Goldman was held out of practice Wednesday, and later on, an injury was revealed.

It is unclear just when Goldman suffered this knee/ankle injury, but it’s also a bit curious. Simply an ankle injury would be one thing. Just a knee injury would be another. But, this is being described as an ankle and/or knee injury, and that’s a bit worrisome.

That suggests that there is possibly a deeper issue at hand that’s affecting a much larger area in Goldman’s leg.

While having Goldman on Sunday night would be a huge boost to this defense, the Bears should play it cool to begin the year. They already saw what happened when Goldman sat out an entire season, and they cannot risk losing him for a lengthy period of time.

Goldman is far too valuable to this team, long-term.

The plus side is, the Bears have found a gem in seventh-round pick Khyiris Tonga out of BYU. The late-round pick flourished in training camp and the preseason, and looks as though he is going to be a guy the Bears can plug in at any point in time, with or without Goldman on the field.

Having depth there is now a strength, whereas last year the Bears had to shift some guys around, with Bilal Nichols playing nose tackle for the majority of the season. Nichols was simply not big enough to man that gap, but Tonga is big enough to fill in, that’s for sure.

Chicago did make some moves on Wednesday in preparation of potentially playing without Goldman on Sunday night. They signed defensive tackle Margus Hunt and nose tackle Damion Square to the practice squad.

As Thursday and Friday unfold, we might see one of these two elevated to the active roster to back up Tonga.

When we finally see kickoff, the Bears will be playing in the most lopsided game of the week, according to the latest betting odds. This contest holds some interesting matchups for sure, but the Rams are heavily favored. Losing Goldman will only further increase L.A.’s chances, but maybe, just maybe, we will see the unlikeliest of upsets.