Alshon Jeffery is reportedly feeling better. What that means is anyone's guess, but the wide receiver has stepped back onto the practice field in hopes of getting some playing time in Week 6 as the Bears take on the Detroit Lions. The Bears need Jeffery on the field. The receiver has spent most of the season injured and with Kevin White also out of the mix, their passing attack has been struggling. Will Jeffery finally make a Week 6 appearance?
According to Jeff Dickerson of ESPN, Jeffery is feeling better and he has been able to get in more work than before heading into Week 6. The receiver is hopeful that he can play while the Bears are trying to finally have a full receiver rotation with Eddie Royal also returning to the field with Marquess Wilson and Cameron Meredith.
"It's been frustrating at times, but I have great teammates and great coaches, and great people around me that are keeping me in good spirits," Jeffery said, via ESPN.com. "We'll evaluate it. Let's just see what the coaches say and see how it feels. We are a couple of days away from Sunday, so we'll see."
Quarterback Jay Cutler knows how important it is to get Jeffery back onto the field. After trading away Brandon Marshall, the Bears expected Jeffery and White to headline the passing attack, something that has failed to happen. Getting Jeffery back would at least give their offense some more balance and spread the defense out for Cutler.
"I've thrown stuff to him over the last couple of weeks as he has eased into it," Cutler said, via the Chicago Tribune. "The biggest thing with him is just staying in shape and being able to stay in game shape because the rest of us are kind of there."
For now, the Bears will continue to lean on Matt Forte, the most consistent presence for the team. Jeffery's injury and Forte's good numbers could put the Bears in a tough spot next offseason. Both players will be in need of new contracts. For a brief period of time, it looked as though Forte might not make it through the year in Chicago as trade talk surfaced, but after that was put to bed many wondered if Chicago will be forced to choose between the receiver and the rusher in the offseason. No one can deny the fact that Forte is the team's safety blanket and he is well aware of his value.
"I think it's funny," Forte said, via FOX Sports. "The media, I don't know. I guess they start to speculate and then they report it as news and it takes off. That's how news gets more and more views, likes and listens, I guess. So they were speculating when the draft was coming up this past offseason that I was going to be traded then and nothing happened. So I can only control how I play on the football field. I don't really worry about it. I just think it'd be crazy to trade me anyways."
