Chicago Bears still unsure about Long's injury status

Even in a best-case scenario, the Chicago Bears will be without right guard Kyle Long for several weeks after he suffered a right-foot injury Sunday that had him navigating the postgame locker room on crutches.

When coach Matt Nagy was asked Monday if Long's injury could be season ending, he said: "I don't know. I really don't. I guess he could be, but I'm not sure."

The Bears are in decent shape to withstand the loss of Long.

Six-year veteran Eric Kush started the first six games at left guard before missing Sunday's victory over the New York Jets with a neck injury, but he's expected back this week.

The Bears have been grooming rookie James Daniels to become a starter since Week 4, when he began alternating series with Kush, and the second-round pick from Iowa got his first start Sunday when the veteran was sidelined.

Just 10 days ago, the Bears claimed four-year veteran offensive guard Bryan Witzmann off waivers. Witzmann started 13 games last year for the Kansas City Chiefs in Nagy's offense, and he stepped in Sunday when Long went down.

"The good thing is that we do have Kush coming back, and Witzmann was with me in Kansas City last year," Nagy said. "I'm going to give credit to (general manager) Ryan (Pace). Always having depth is great."

Daniels had been progressing nicely on a learning curve, but that process will be accelerated now. He has the benefit of playing three half-games with the starters, in addition to his first start in which he held up well.

"He played a good game," Nagy said. "There were a couple things in there where he got a little bit off balance, but one of his strengths is being able to recover with leverage.

"A couple other times, when he was pulling in the run game, (he) had some thumpers where he was bringing it.

"I thought overall in the pass game, the offensive line did an awesome job protecting. They did a really good job in giving green grass to (quarterback) Mitch (Trubisky). And specifically (No.) 68 (Daniels), I thought for being in there as much as he was, he did well."

Trubisky was sacked twice while throwing 29 times for a 102.7 passer rating, and the Bears rushed for a season-best 179 yards.

Even if the interior O-line depth winds up being a godsend, there's no way Long won't be missed. He's three years removed from his last Pro Bowl berth but still playing at a high level even after enduring shoulder, neck and elbow injuries just since December.

In 2016, surgery on his severely sprained right ankle ended that season at the midway point.

"For him to go through what he's gone through the last couple of years with injuries, you feel for the guy," said Nagy, who clarified that the current injury is different from his previous ankle injury. "He's been doing real well since our first day together in OTAs; he's been a constant leader. He's very engaged in meetings. He's just really done things the right way.

"Right now we're hoping that it's good news. But we won't know here for a little bit. But when we do find that out, then we've got to deal with it either way. But for him, he's just got to stay mentally strong as much as he can."

As for the injuries that kept outside linebacker Khalil Mack and wide receiver Allen Robinson out of Sunday's game, Nagy said it still is a waiting game.

"They're going to be day to day, hour to hour," Nagy said. "Hopefully better this week, but it's too hard to predict until we go throughout the week."

The decision not to play Mack on Sunday was made after weighing a couple of factors.

"If we put him out there, No. 1, is he going make it any worse, and No. 2, does he help our team, is he effective enough?" Nagy said. "Just the collaboration of all of us talking in the morning was what we went with. I'm hoping this week it gets better, but I'm going to stay cautious with it always and we, together, are always going to talk through it."

Backup tight end Ben Braunecker, who left Sunday's game in the second half, is in the concussion protocol.

• Bob LeGere is a senior writer at Pro Football Weekly. Follow Bob's Bears reports on Twitter @BobLeGere or @PFWeekly.