Chicago Bears OT Kyle Long might miss season opener

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Kyle Long's status for the season-opener remains unclear due to a shoulder issue.

The Chicago Tribune, citing unnamed sources, said it is a labrum issue. The Bears are not confirming this.

Coach John Fox wouldn't say whether he thought Long would start the opener.

"It doesn't really matter what I think," Fox said. "There are medical people involved and when he's cleared, he'll play."

There's no doubt the impact a missing Long has on the offensive line.

"You're missing that big guy that can lock down the three-technique," quarterback Jay Cutler said. "Whenever he's in there, you know that side is pretty much going to be void. You don't really have to worry about that. You're going to have room to step up.

"He's been a three-time Pro Bowler. He's a heck of player for good reason."

While coaches would give no indication about Long's status, at least Cutler indicated Long wasn't playing the third preseason game with Kansas City.

"We'll miss him this week, and hopefully we'll get him back soon," Cutler said.

The line took on an unusual look without Long, and also when right tackle Bobby Massie missed the final two practices before Saturday's game due to illness.

Garry Williams was the starting right tackle. Ted Larsen went from center to right guard. And Cornelius Edison was the starting center. It's possible the Bears play with that lineup against the Chiefs.

Edison was a practice squad player last year.

"I'm comfortable with whoever's available," Fox said. "Nobody comes and rescues you in this business, so we're comfortable putting him (Edison) out there.

"He's been at practice, been part of our team. We'll see how he performs."

--The play of rookie left guard Cody Whitehair continued to draw high praise. He made large strides from the first preseason game to the second.

"He's a smart kid," Cutler said. "He's quiet, he kind of fits in with that group and he's doing exactly what we ask him to do.

"He's really talented. You can see some stuff he does, the way he passes things off, it comes natural to him."

Nose tackle Eddie Goldman finds the rookie more than a challenge in practice.

"He's a good run blocker, pass blocker too," Goldman said. "In the run he comes off low. In the pass he has good balance and good feet.

"He's probably stronger than me. He just has a good grip. When he gets a hold of you he's not going to let you go."

--Edison is the third center Cutler has taken snaps from this preseason. He went through three centers in the 2015 regular season.

Cutler has to provide some direction for Edison, who was undrafted largely due to a torn ACL suffered just prior to selection day.

"It's just being really vocal and really helping him along," Cutler said. "And once he starts seeing it how I see it, how the coaches see it, it comes pretty fast."

--In the shutout loss to Denver in the preseason opener, the Bears offense looked nonexistent. It changed drastically against New England, and the first team departed the game with a lead.

Cutler attributed the turnaround to coordinator Dowell Loggains' steady approach.

"I think the major point for us was let's not panic, let's not hit the fire alarm and put guys in a panic," Cutler said. "Because it was the first preseason game and we watched the film and a lot of the stuff that went wrong was because of mistakes, So it was a matter of just kind of cleaning that stuff up and just going back to work. Which I thought we did a really good job of offensively. Hopefully we can do that this week, too."

--One of the more interesting roster battles appears to be two players who came in together when Marc Trestman was coach and Phil Emery the GM -- Will Sutton versus Ego Ferguson.

Neither defensive lineman was considered an ideal fit for the 3-4 scheme that utilizes a two-gap approach up front in the base. Both are considered more gap-shooters, especially Sutton. Ferguson, at least, has size on his side.

However, Sutton has probably made more plays in camp and preseason. Because the Bears selected Jonanthan Bullard in the third round, it's possible either Ferguson or Sutton will be launched.

"That'll be based on their performance, like anybody in a battle for one of those 53 spots," Fox said. "Again, we're still in that (roster) process; we're only halfway through."

--The battle between fullbacks Paul Lasike and Darrel Young is one that the Bears wouldn't have even thought about last year. The approach when Adam Gase was offensive coordinator was to line up a tight end in the backfield if a fullback was needed, or the Bears often went to an unbalanced line with an extra tackle to help in obvious running situations.

Now the thinking seems to have changed under Loggains with Lasike and Young battling for a spot as blocking back.

"I think it kind of helps if you have a fullback," Fox said. "Otherwise it's hard to use one. We've added two fullbacks to the roster and they'll be part of that evaluation.

"You know there's a lot of different personnel groups and you try to have your best one out there. A year ago it was kind of a different situation than this year as far as the talent of your football team and how it's situated."

NOTES: Running back Jeremy Langford (foot) returned to practice Wednesday on a limited basis and said Thursday he plans to play in Saturday's game. He missed four practices due to the left foot, which was injured in the Aug. 19 loss at New England. ... Defensive end Jonathan Bullard missed practices Monday through Wednesday for personal reasons, then returned Thursday. "Without going into too much detail, I think sometimes things outside of football kind of hold precedent over football," coach John Fox said about his rookie's absence. ... Right tackle Bobby Massie (illness) missed Wednesday and Thursday's practices due to illness. A flu bug has gone through the team and affected several players, including cornerback Deiondre' Hall, fullback Darrel Young and cornerback Tracy Porter. ... Wide receiver Eddie Royal (concussion) continued to practice wearing a red jersey, signifying he isn't to have contact. However, he has been running routes in scrimmages. On Wednesday, Royal was running Kansas City plays with the look team against the first-team defense. Marc Mariani and Daniel Braverman took the first-team snaps at slot receiver without Royal on first team. ... Tight end Zach Miller (concussion) continued to play with the first team, but like Royal, wore a red jersey to signify he isn't to have contact.