Posted by ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert
Chicago is crunching six days of game preparation into three as it heads toward Thursday night’s matchup at San Francisco. So it was particularly alarming Tuesday when two of the Bears’ top three safeties missed practice because of injury.
Al Afalava (shoulder) and Kevin Payne (back) weren’t available, leaving Danieal Manning as the lone starter on the practice field. Craig Steltz or Josh Bullocks would be the other starter if Afalava or Payne can’t start Thursday night.
A cynic might argue that there isn’t much separation between Afalava, Payne, Steltz and Bullocks. But on a short practice week, I’d be especially wary of introducing a new starter.
Chicago is crunching six days of game preparation into three as it heads toward Thursday night’s matchup at San Francisco. So it was particularly alarming Tuesday when two of the Bears’ top three safeties missed practice because of injury.
Al Afalava (shoulder) and Kevin Payne (back) weren’t available, leaving Danieal Manning as the lone starter on the practice field. Craig Steltz or Josh Bullocks would be the other starter if Afalava or Payne can’t start Thursday night.
A cynic might argue that there isn’t much separation between Afalava, Payne, Steltz and Bullocks. But on a short practice week, I’d be especially wary of introducing a new starter.
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Kevin Seifert
Seifert joined ESPN.com in 2008 after covering the Minnesota Vikings for the Minneapolis Star Tribune for eight years. He lives in the Twin Cities with his wife and daughter.