The Bears went into Sunday’s game at Detroit with three mostly healthy tight ends: John Davis, Fred Baxter and Dustin Lyman. They left the 23-20 loss to the Detroit Lions with one.
Starter Davis received treatment after the game for a rib injury that Davis said was the result of being speared by a Detroit tackler’s helmet. Baxter did not fly back to Chicago with the team. He went to a Detroit-area hospital for observation of an injured kidney. Tests determined there was no damage to the kidney, and Baxter returned to Chicago on Monday morning.
“He didn’t stay at the hospital,” coach Dick Jauron said. “He had to be checked at the hospital. Everything indicated that he was OK, so he spent the night in a hotel there.”
Guard Chris Villarrial left Sunday’s game to have a new cast placed on his right thumb, which he broke in the preseason. Cornerback Reggie Austin left the game after a helmet-to-helmet hit with Detroit guard Ray Brown, who at 318 pounds outweighs Austin by about 140 pounds.
Austin returned to Sunday’s game in the second half, but not before passing some “tests.”
“[Team medical staff] ask you a lot of questions,” Austin said. “They asked me the date, day of the week, the month, who’s the president, what year it is. I knew most of the answers, but I think I forgot the president’s name. So maybe it had to be a concussion if I forgot the president.”
Deja vu
Tackle James “Big Cat” Williams suffered through the peaks and valleys of the 1990s, including a pair of 4-12 seasons and two 5-11 campaigns, so he knows too well how a losing season can feel.
But does this season and its current run of four straight losses remind him of those teams and years?
“Yes and no,” Williams said. “I can remember bad seasons where we didn’t have chances at the end of games, where we were blown out. One or two plays here and there, we’re 6-0, 5-1, 4-2 somewhere around there.”
Timing
The Lions’ false-start penalty with five seconds left in Sunday’s fourth quarter was one of those infractions that stops the clock before it ever starts. Because the play had not begun, the rule calling for 10 seconds to be run off the clock on penalties in that situation did not apply.
