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Chicago Bears nation has held their breath regarding the fate of top pass rusher Leonard Floyd since he left the Sunday loss to Detroit on a cart with a knee injury. Many feared it could be a torn ACL, which would required reconstruction surgery and make any return to 100% in 2018 that much more challenging.
Thankfully head coach John Fox clarified that the ACL was not torn but the team was still evaluating the damage. He has since clarified the information on his weekly radio show on WBBM-AM 780. Floyd apparently
suffered a sprain of the MCL and PCL ligaments in his knee.
"Bears outside linebacker Leonard Floyd sprained two ligaments in his right knee Sunday against the Lions.
Floyd injured his medial collateral and posterior cruciate ligaments (MCL and PCL), coach John Fox said Monday evening on his weekly radio show on WBBM-AM 780.
Fox hinted that Floyd would miss the rest of the season and would have surgery, but he did not go so far as to specify or clarify that.
“It’s going to be some time until he can come back, if at all the rest of this season,” Fox said. “We’ll kind of measure that as we go. But it was good to hear it wasn’t the ACL. It was MCL, PCL. It will require some work to get him fixed, but obviously better news that the total reconstruction.”
Smart money says the Bears aren't going to rush their best pass rusher back in what now looks like a lost season. Chicago is 3-7 with six games to play. The better idea would be to shut him down, let him get the minor issues in the knee fixed and have him fully ready for work next spring.
Leonard Floyd will need help when he does return
Presuming there's no late comeback, Floyd will finish 2017 with 5.5 sacks and a safety. Not exactly the breakout year most hoped for. However, it's worth noting all of those sacks had come in the past seven games. So he was clearly revving things up. The job ahead for Chicago is two-fold. They must get him healthy, then they must find him some help.
Too often this year the Bears pass rush hasn't gotten the job done when needed. Part of why is nobody outside of Floyd is reliable. Willie Young is already out for the year. Pernell McPhee is playing on two surgically-repaired knees. They sorely need another young rusher who can provide more heat off the edge.
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