Kyler Gordon is out for rest of regular season after Bears place cornerback on injured reserve

Brad Biggs, Chicago Tribune on Dec 13, 2025

Published in Football

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CHICAGO — If Kyler Gordon plays again this season, it will not happen until the playoffs.

The Chicago Bears moved the nickel cornerback to injured reserve for the second time this year, meaning he will miss the remaining four regular-season games beginning with Sunday’s meeting with the Cleveland Browns at Soldier Field.

Gordon, who turns 26 on Wednesday, suffered a groin injury in pregame warmups Sunday in Green Bay, the latest setback in a season that has been filled with them for a player who was expected to be a valuable chess piece in the secondary.

Originally injured in training camp on Aug. 7, Gordon has dealt with hamstring, calf and groin injuries that have limited him to three games and 117 snaps. He played Oct. 13 at Washington, Oct. 19 versus New Orleans and Nov. 28 at Philadelphia — missing five games in the middle of the season for an original IR stint.

Players are allowed to return from IR twice during a season, but each reinstatement counts against the maximum of eight designated-to-return moves a club can make. In 2024, the league tweaked the rules, allowing clubs qualifying for the playoffs to have up to 10 players designated to return during a season.

The Bears have used five activations to date for Gordon, cornerback Jaylon Johnson, linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga, defensive end Austin Booker and running back Travis Homer. The club is expected to designate weak-side linebacker Tremaine Edmunds (groin) to return soon, perhaps in the coming days for a potential return for the Dec. 20 game against the Packers at Soldier Field.

It’s possible the team will consider designating tight end Nikola Kalinic (hand) and guard Luke Newman (foot) to return at some point, but all of the IR situations are fluid. Running back Roschon Johnson (thumb) is another possibility.

While the Bears did not make a corresponding roster move to fill Gordon’s spot on the 53-man roster, they elevated linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin and running back Brittain Brown from the practice squad to the game-day roster to face the Browns. This is the third and final elevation for Reeves-Maybin and second for Brown. Reeves-Maybin should be considered a candidate to take Gordon’s roster spot in the coming days.

The Gordon situation is frustrating for everyone involved. He signed a three-year, $40 million extension during the offseason that made him the highest-paid slot cornerback in the league. While soft-tissue injuries have plagued him during the offseason and training camp in the past, he hasn’t been able to escape.

Considering Gordon’s inability to get healthy and remain available, it might be a long shot for him to return during the playoffs, if the Bears qualify. The team certainly cannot be counting on him at this point.

“It’s disappointing,” coach Ben Johnson said Monday. “I wish I had a better feel for the individual but with him being out as much as he has, I haven’t really gotten to see him on the field and competing to get to know him like I’d like to at this point yet.

“I do know that the biggest predictor of a soft tissue injury is having a previous one. He’s in this rut right now that we’re not able to get out of. We’re going to exhaust all of our resources in and outside of the building to make sure that we’re addressing it and doing what we can to get him back and healthy again.”

Gordon’s $10 million base salary for 2026 is fully guaranteed. The Bears have minimal protection for injuries in the final three years of the contract, through 2028. For each of the next three seasons, Gordon has a $30,000 per-game roster bonus (maximum of $510,000 per season) tied to him being active on the game-day roster.