The Chicago Bears received great news on the injury front involving rookie tight end Colston Loveland on Monday. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Loveland’s hip injury isn’t believed to be serious, and he’s expected to have a chance to play against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Loveland, who has gotten off to a slow start, exited Sunday’s game towards the end of the first half against the Dallas Cowboys with said injury. Bears fans were disappointed to see the rookie tight end not return to the game, as head coach Ben Johnson took blame in the days before the game for not getting the tight ends more involved.
Before getting injured, the rookie tight end was on the verge of being a big part of the offense, as he had three targets on six snaps. His lone catch was for 31 yards, and it helped set up the Bears for their first touchdown, which was a 35-yard pass from Caleb Williams to Rome Odunze.
The good news for the Bears and their fans is that Johnson may get an opportunity for a do-over against the Raiders, who gave up 41 points to the Washington Commanders.
Colston Loveland Could Play Significant Role in Bears’ Passing Game in Week 4
Johnson and offensive coordinator Declan Doyle made a concerted effort to feature the former Michigan Wolverines tight end more in Sunday’s game. Out of all the Bears’ pass catchers, the rookie pass catcher was second in first-read targets (3), only behind Odunze, who had 5.
If he were able to finish the game, Loveland might’ve had the same amount of first-read targets as Odunze or scored a touchdown. We saw veteran tight end Cole Kmet score a 10-yard TD in Sunday’s game.
That said, Johnson and the rest of the offensive coaching staff should look to attack the Raiders’ defense on Sunday with Loveland. This season, the Raiders have given up 121 receiving yards to opposing teams’ tight ends in three games (ranked 18th in the NFL). Additionally, Las Vegas has only allowed nine receptions and 13 targets.
Now you might say to yourself that this matchup doesn’t seem favorable for Loveland, but one of the Raiders’ games was against the Los Angeles Chargers, who don’t feature the tight end a lot in the passing game. It’s more of a three-wide receiver set offense.
But when Las Vegas faced New England Patriots TE Hunter Henry in Week 1 and Washington TE Zach Ertz, they were productive.
- Henry – 4 receptions (8 targets) for 66 yards
- Ertz – 3 receptions (3 targets) for 38 yards
If Loveland can come close to what either of those guys did in Week 4, Bears fans will take it, as they want the rookie to succeed and become a playmaker in Johnson’s offense. He'll need a quick recovery on the health front to make that happen, but it's in the realm of possibilities for Sunday.