The Chicago Bears suffered some more bad luck to the defensive back department on Saturday when new safety Xavier Woods sustained what we know to be a groin injury.
Woods was signed by the Bears on August 7 following a significant injury to Coby Bryant, who is slated to miss 4-6 months. Woods has started 121 games in the NFL, and he played under current Bears’ DB coach Al Harris while he was with Dallas in 2020.
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At this point, it is unknown how long Woods will be out and how severe the injury is. Head coach Ben Johnson commented on the injury following the Bears’ preseason win over Cleveland, but that’s all that we have heard so far.
I went back and dissected the tape on Sunday morning to see if I could find any clues as to where the injury occurred, as well as to get an idea of how severe it could be. I should point out, of course, that I am not a medical professional. Sometimes injuries like this are tricky and are more severe than they appear, but I’d like to share with you what I observed.
Woods only played 9 snaps on defense on Saturday, all in the first quarter. I watched all of them as closely as possible, and it was hard to decipher when the injury occurred as nothing really stood out. Woods never reacts like someone who was injured, nor does he appear to suffer when it comes to his mobility on the field. The closest thing I could find to a possible injury happened on Woods’ third-to-last play in the game.
Woods tracked down Browns RB Dylan Sampson on a 43 yard HB screen. Woods showed off his speed and range, coming all the way across the field to make the stop. At the very end of the clip that I cut below, you will notice Woods briefly point at someone down the sideline. At first, I thought he might be pointing at a teammate on the field, but after viewing the play from a different angle, that doesn’t appear to be the case.
It’s possible he tweaked something here and was alerting his coaches or medical staff, but that’s merely speculation on my part. You be the judge.
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What I can tell you is that Woods did not come out of the game after this. On the next play, Woods was in coverage jogging around the field and appeared to be fine.
On the last play that he was in the game, Woods pursued Browns’ RB Ahmani Marshall and looks to be moving fine again, even cutting directions on the play. He hops up at the end of the play and doesn’t react like someone who is severely hurt.
It was after this play that Woods was taken out of the game and he never returned. As you will see from the footage below, he does not motion to be taken out of the game. Instead, he noticed the substitution being made and jogs off the field. They even zoom on him on the sideline.
Again, Woods does not seem to be severely injured (visually at least). Perhaps this is wishful thinking. The Bears very much need the experience that he brings to the table in starting opposite of rookie Dillon Thieneman while Bryant is out. Another long-term injury to the backend of this defense would be devastating.
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We’ll have to wait for another update on the severity of the injury. I’m just pointing out to our readers what I observed above. I remain hopeful that this will not be a long-term injury, but we’ll find out for sure in due time. Sometimes even minor groin injuries can linger for a longer period of time that originally expected.
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