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Chicago Bears LB Floyd's season could be over

In an upside-down Bears world, No. 1 draft picks collided.

If it didn't make for chaos, with Leonard Floyd laying wounded on the field while Kyle Fuller sprinted to the locker room with a towel wrapped around his bloodied hand, it at least was more proof that the stars are still not properly aligned for Chicago's football team.

"It was a football play," Fuller said.

It was another play that turned bad for the Bears, whose 27-24 loss to Detroit at Soldier Field on Sunday dropped their record to 3-7. In a Bears season that's already seen the team lose wide receivers Cameron Meredith and Kevin White, tight end Zach Miller, linebackers Willie Young and Jerrell Freeman and safety Quintin Demps to season-ending injuries, Floyd might be the latest to join the list.

Leading 21-17 early in the fourth quarter, Detroit faced second-and-11 from the Bears 30. As Floyd tackled Theo Riddick on a 2-yard gain, Fuller dived to help on the play. Fuller's right shoulder pad took out Floyd's right leg, while Floyd's right cleat landed on Fuller's left hand and sliced it.

Floyd didn't get up and eventually had to be carted off the field.

"Just a friendly fire play," said Fuller, who returned to the game later in the quarter. "I just hope he's all right."

Bears coach John Fox said it looked like Floyd suffered a "really serious knee injury." That would imply an ACL, which would likely end Floyd's season.

"I hate to speculate," Fox said. "But usually when you get taken out on a cart, it's not great."

Fuller didn't feel so great. And not just because his hand had been cut.

"That shook me up," Fuller said of Floyd's injury. "I hurt him. I just said a prayer for him."

The ninth overall pick out of Georgia in the 2016 draft, Floyd has 4½ sacks in 10 games after posting seven in 12 games as a rookie last season. The outside linebacker's performance against the Lions included a tackle for loss and pair of quarterback hurries.

Unable to stay on the field last year due to multiple injuries, he has not missed a game this season.

"Floyd's definitely a key part for us," said Fuller, the fourth-year cornerback and 14th overall pick out of Virginia Tech in 2014. "First of all, we hate that (injury) for him. We'll definitely have to keep it going for him. He means a lot for us."

Floyd's production will be hard to replace. He is considered a center piece for the defense during the team's rebuild.

"He puts great pressure on the quarterback, and you know we're going to miss him," cornerback Marcus Cooper Sr. said. "But some guy is going to step up and put some pressure on the quarterback. We all try to live by that next-man-up mentality."

Fuller was trying to stay positive.

"I know the type of guy he is," Fuller said of Floyd. "He'll be all right."

The same might not be the case for the Bears.

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