The Chicago Bears took care of business on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a perfect affair. The offense did the heavy lifting, pouring 59 points onto the scoreboard. That made it easier to stomach the fact that the defense allowed 37, reinforcing fears about the unit’s lack of difference-makers. Perhaps the most unnerving part of the performance was the secondary. Once considered a team strength, the group has taken a major toll from injuries, and it showed as Bryce Young racked up 361 yards. This once again brings back the issue of Kyler Gordon.
There is no question that the Bears’ defense is better when he’s on the field. Unfortunately, the cornerback missed all summer with a lingering calf problem. Now he is out for at least the first four games of the season. Many have grown tired of his persistent soft-tissue problems. Why should they believe anything will change when he finally does return? Maybe it’s because he is finally getting advice from somebody who knows what he’s doing. At least that is what specialist trainer Montel Fleming thinks. He’s been working with Gordon on his recovery and didn’t hide his opinion on why things have gone wrong up until now, according to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune.
The Bears’ training staff has badly mishandled Kyler Gordon.
“Due to overcompensation,” Fleming said. “OK, so a lot of strength and conditioning coaches in these programs and these clubs think that lifting weights is the only outcome to prevent injuries and to gain strength. Well, they don’t understand that a key measure is called your myofascia. Your fascia is what allows your body to have the range of motion that it needs to have.
“Athletes have to be agile, they have to be able to move at the twitch of a second to change direction, right? So if you have range of motion that is limited, now other muscles have to overcompensate for that. So we have what we call the kinetic chain throughout the whole entire body. And the anterior controls the posterior, posterior controls the anterior, lateral left side controls right, right controls left. OK? So if you look at the body at a four-dimensional degree, then you understand that overcompensation can lead to other injuries, and that’s what happens to 90% of athletes. Not just in football.
Is this criticism fair?
It is worth noting that Gordon was far from the only player to deal with soft-tissue problems last season. No fewer than 11 other players on the roster missed at least one game last season with such an issue. They ran the full range from hamstrings and groins to quads, thighs, and calves. This doesn’t count the several such setbacks they suffered in training camp, both last year and this year. So maybe Fleming is onto something. The Bears didn’t make any notable moves on their strength staff when head coach Ben Johnson took over, mind you.
He opted to promote Pierre Ngo to the job. Up until that point, Ngo had only been an assistant coach during his NFL career. That meant the Bears were handing the job to somebody inexperienced. He also didn’t come from a proven background. Justus Galac, Loren Landow, Jason George, and Jason Lascalzo were the four strength coaches he worked under prior to his appointment. Landow, George, and Lascalzo aren’t even in the NFL anymore. They’ve gone to the college ranks. Galac held his post for eight seasons before being released. He’s been an assistant since then. This may help explain why Ngo can’t seem to get a handle on the Bears’ soft tissue problems.
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We’ll find out the truth next month.
Kyler Gordon seems to have taken the cautious approach to his recovery. Rather than trust the Bears’ staff, he’s opted to seek outside advice. That is how he connected with Fleming, who also works with Jaylon Johnson. The trainer is likely one of the people who advised him not to return until they could get his body into proper alignment, thus mitigating future risks. If Gordon returns and manages to make it through the season healthy, it may quiet the calls for his job.
It may also raise serious questions about the team’s strength staff. Then again, if he just gets hurt again, it will be confirmation that Gordon is injury-prone. Either way, these next several weeks are the most important of his career. The cornerback has put himself in an awkward spot by choosing the cautious approach. Some have started questioning his commitment to the game. He must be ready to go when he returns, or he may not survive next offseason.
