CHICAGO — In under 90 minutes, two teams with Super Bowl aspirations will duke it out in front of a national audience. The New England Patriots and Chicago Bears, both sporting 4-2 records, will do battle on Thursday Night Football — but not at full strength.
The Patriots have taken a beating in recent weeks. They've had to put a number of players on injured reserve this season, including wide receiver Romeo Doubs this week. It hasn't been easy sledding for the defending AFC champions, and a short week certainly won't help that.
Here's a look at the inactives from both sides, including key offensive linemen who won't be able to dress:
Patriots Inactives | Bears Inactives |
|---|---|
QB Behren Morton (emergency third QB) | QB Case Keenum (emergency third QB) |
OG Ben Brown (knee) | RB Kyle Monangai (thumb/toe) |
DT Joshua Farmer | OG Jordan McFadden |
CB Carlton Davis (neck) | DT Jordan Loving |
CB Channing Canada (hamstring) | LB T.J. Edwards |
CB Karon Prunty (hamstring) | LB Jack Sanborn |
N/A | CB Nick McCloud |
For the Patriots, there isn't any surprises. Head coach Mike Vrabel shared all of these names (other than Behren Morton and Joshua Farmer) at his final press conference of the week on Wednesday.
Rookie offensive tackle Dametrious Crownover will return to the lineup after being inactive for last week's game. Behren Morton, who's been the third quarterback all season, won't be able to play unless Drake Maye and Tommy DeVito leave with injuries.
For the Bears, losing their downhill running back in Kyle Monangai is a break for the Patriots — who have struggled against the run in recent weeks. They'll still have to deal with D'Andre Swift, who had two touchdowns on 44 yards a week ago against Atlanta.
"Their runners or anybody that touches the ball is going to be a physical player, is going to be a tough tackle," Vrabel said. "We'll have to be great tacklers."
Down 2 Starters, Here's How New England's OL Will Look:
After Alijah Vera-Tucker and Ben Brown went down a week ago, the Patriots got inspiring outings from their backups. Walter Rouse and Matt Pryor, the last two active linemen on the game day roster, stepped up to fill in at both guard spots. They'll now be in the starting lineup tonight, with Rouse handling the left side and Pryor the right.
It's just another offensive line combination that the Patriots will need to navigate through. They lost Mike Onwenu early in the season, and then lost his backup Greg Van Roten one week later. Just a few games later, and we're seeing two players who didn't spend the summer in New England starting a primetime game. Vera-Tucker was placed on IR prior to kickoff, ruling him out for the next four games.
Vrabel was asked Wednesday about the possibility of rookie tackle Caleb Lomu, who's gotten reps on both sides of the line the last two weeks, potentially kicking inside at guard.
"We have a lot of consideration," he said. "We go through things, different scenarios. We're going to go with where we finished on Sunday and see what that looks like, and then have everybody else ready to go."
Carlton Davis Misses Another Game
The Patriots are also down three cornerbacks, the biggest name being Carlton Davis. He's been dealing with a neck injury for a lot of the season, and this will be his fourth missed game of the year. They're also down rookies Channing Canada and Karon Prunty, who both have hamstring injuries.
Davis is the team's second-best cornerback and easily their top one when it comes to playing the run. But he's struggled to stay healthy in 2026, and while he was spotted at practice for the first time in three weeks leading up to this game, the Patriots still didn't feel comfortable rolling him out there.
The Patriots will have four active cornerbacks for this matchup against a high-flying Bears offense, with Christian Gonzalez, Marcus Jones, Charles Woods and Kindle Vildor ready to go. Second-year safety Elliott Davison has also gotten snaps at cornerback this season in a reserve role.
The Patriots nearly got a scare at cornerback, as Gonzalez was downgraded to questionable pregame with an illness. However, he was warming up on the field and will suit up.
Patriots Can Exploit This Area Of Chicago's Defense
The Bears come into this matchup with one of the league's best defenses — especially against the run. But they rank 14th in the NFL in passing defense through six games, and with a few players banged up in the secondary, the Patriots can try to push the ball through the air.
Chicago will be without cornerback Tyrique Stevenson, who was ruled out with a hip injury. They'll also line up without Nick McCloud (who's played in just two games this year) on the field. They do have Kyler Gordon back, who played last week after opening the year on the PUP list, but he's still trying to knock the rust off.
If the Patriots want to try and air the ball out against a secondary that isn't at full strength, they could end up putting up a bunch of points in a hurry. Avoiding a stout Bears run defense, especially early in drives, could be beneficial.
Add us as a preferred source on Google