The injury bug continues to bite the Chicago Bears, and Sunday night's game against the San Francisco 49ers did not cut Chicago any slack in the injury department. Linebacker Noah Sewell went down in the 3rd quarter and had to be carted off the field. As of this morning, he's believed to have torn his Achilles, according to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, which would effectively end his season.
The story of Chicago's season, as far as injuries go, has been the next man in line stepping up, and the Bears have been pretty lucky this season in terms of how their backups have performed. The next man up in Sewell's place is all but guaranteed to be linebacker D'Marco Jackson. Bears fans shouldn't panic, as Jackson is no stranger to stepping up when the Bears have needed him.
While Sewell going down for potentially the rest of the season most certainly hurts Chicago, Jackson has proven to be a very capable linebacker in this league, and there are certainly injuries that could have hurt the Bears more. Jackson can and should seamlessly fill in for defensive coordinator Dennis Allen's unit, a scheme that he's been familiar with dating back to their time together in New Orleans.
Noah Sewell's Injury Could Be a Blessing for D'Marco Jackson
Just two weeks before Sunday night's game against San Francisco, Jackson was starting at linebacker for Chicago against the Cleveland Browns in the midst of T.J. Edwards and Tremaine Edmunds' injuries. In that matchup against the Browns, Jackson accumulated seven tackles, a sack, and an interception, earning him NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors.
This raises the question: If Jackson has already proven he can step up in the big moments when needed, then why did he see zero snaps Sunday night even after Sewell went down? While this is certainly worth asking, there's no longer any doubt that Jackson will see the field in Sewell's absence moving forward. He has the opportunity to provide a spark plug to a Bears defensive unit that was nothing short of uninspiring in the loss to the 49ers.
Another interesting thing to note regarding the Bears' snap counts from Sunday night is that no other linebacker saw any snaps at all (h/t @kfishbain) after Sewell went down. Instead, Allen adjusted his defensive scheme mid-game, but it didn't seem to benefit Chicago at all.
Assuming Jackson gets his chances to see the field again in Sewell's absence, his performance in both Week 18 and the playoffs will likely determine his future in Chicago. If Jackson can continue to show out as he has previously when filling in, the Bears may have no choice but to bring him back in 2026.