The Chicago Bears will not be faking injuries
Earlier this week, former Bears linebacker and future Hall-of-Famer Brian Urlacher said the Chicago Bears would fake injuries to slow other teams down. Urlacher, now an analyst for Fox Sports 1 said the Bears had a “designated dive guy” who would go down with an apparent “injury.”
Of course, Urlacher spent much of his career playing for Lovie Smith and this is head coach Marc Trestman’s first season on the job.
On Wednesday, Trestman and defensive coordinator Mel Tucker told the media they do not fake injuries.
“I can’t say that. I haven’t been a part of that environment,” Trestman told Michael C. Wright of ESPN.com when asked if he had been part of a team that faked injuries. “Part of it is just doing things within the framework of the rules of the league. I really haven’t had any experience in that area before or been a part of an NFL team where I heard of that happening.”
Bears safety Major Wright acknowledged what Urlacher said was true but said he was never a fall guy himself.
“We definitely, yeah, we know that,” said Wright. “At times, you can know that the offense is definitely fast-paced and everything, [so] you know, something [has] to happen.”
NFL teams received a memo Thursday telling them faking injuries will result in disciplinary action and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.
The Bears will kick off their season on Sunday when they host the Cincinnati Bengals at 1:00 pm EST.