What happened Saturday at Halas Hall:
Green light for Santos
The Bears were never too worried about kicker Cairo Santos’ right hip (he is right-footed) injury and expect to have him Monday against the Eagles despite missing two practices. He had no game designation on the injury report and practiced in full Friday.
Stevenson’s turnaround
While coach Ben Johnson initially labeled cornerback Tyrique Stevenson “week-to-week,” implying he was unlikely to play Monday, he said Saturday that Stevenson improved faster than the training staff anticipated. He was full-go for practice Friday and available to play.
Quarterback uncertainty
Starting quarterback Caleb Williams was out of practice again Friday, but backup Tyson Bagent returned. Third-stringer Case Keenum has been operating as the starter before that. Johnson said twice before practice that Bagent had cleared concussion protocol to play, but the team said later he had not. The Bears ruled out Williams and listed Bagent as questionable.
Not yet
Johnson said left tackle Ozzy Trapilo, who is expected to eventually take over for Braxton Jones, won’t make his return Monday. Trapilo has been working back from a major knee injury and practiced in full all week. He isn’t on the injury report, but the Bears will wait at least another week.
Unresolved discrepancy
As of Saturday afternoon, the Bears hadn’t gotten resolution on a potential kickoff rules issue pertaining to the Eagles. The Eagles have used a 12th man as a holder on kickoffs without a specifically to tilt and push on the ball to create an advantage on “dirty kicks.” Bears special teams coordinator Richard Hightower said that goes against the spirit of the rules and was hoping it’d be banned. The NFL has been deliberating on it throughout the week.