Bears' Darnell Wright took a private plane to Week 17 game after a bug 'did a number on our guys'

Sean Hammond, Chicago Tribune on Dec 29, 2025

Published in Football

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SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Chicago Bears right tackle Darnell Wright started to feel under the weather on Friday.

A bug had been going around the team headquarters in Lake Forest, Ill. A number of players showed up on the injury report with illnesses as the Bears prepared to play the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.

The Bears did everything they could to mitigate the effects of the bug.

“We all understand that if someone has to go down because they’re sick, then somebody else has to step up,” first-year coach Ben Johnson said. “We did the best we could as an organization to try to stop it, from masks to washing hands to being diligent that way. It certainly did a number on our guys.”

On Friday, it was Wright’s turn. He started to feel it Friday, although it wasn’t bad enough to keep him out of practice. But Saturday was a different story.

He had a fever and was “really bad” on Saturday. The team flew out of Chicago on Saturday, but Wright didn’t make the flight.

“You just hope that it doesn’t hit you that hard,” Wright said. “Fever, you can’t really play with a high fever. I mean, you can, but just trying to get your fever down and whatnot.”

Even so, the 2023 No. 10 overall draft pick wanted to do everything he could to be there for his teammates. Wright has rarely missed games during his three-year NFL career. He woke up feeling well enough to play Sunday morning. The Bears flew Wright via a private plane to the Bay Area in time to play the night’s game.

Wright said he was up around 4 a.m. Central time on Sunday morning. A member of the team’s training staff made the trip with Wright, who spent the four-hour flight trying to get some sleep.

Johnson said Wright was pumped to be there with his teammates.

“He came in (Sunday) morning and he had a big smile on his face,” Johnson said. “ ‘You can’t hold me back from this one,’ he said.”

Wright started the game and played the entire contest at right tackle. Receiver DJ Moore, who did fly with the team Saturday, also played through an illness. Cornerbacks Josh Blackwell and Nahshon Wright also were questionable due to illnesses but wound up playing in the game.

The Bears lost in a 42-38 shootout against the 49ers, but their right tackle was there to protect quarterback Caleb Williams.

“My fever went down, so that was the biggest thing,” Wright said after the game. “I knew I wasn’t going to feel good. It’s just a matter of, logistically, can I play as far as like the fever and how hot your body’s running.”