Bears Overreactions: Bears Top Insider reveals details of Management Decisions DE Yannick Ngakoue after breaking ankle and Justin Fields and draft Caleb Williams update

For the rest of the season, the Bears will be without one of their starting defensive ends. Yannick Ngakoue, who signed a one-year contract with the team this summer, will miss the rest of the season due to an ankle injury suffered on Sunday.

According to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, Matt Eberflus stated Wednesday that the veteran defensive end suffered a broken ankle and will require surgery. This is a disappointing end to Ngakoue’s latest contract year, and it deprives the Bears of a key defensive option as they make a late push for a possible NFC wild-card berth.

Ngakoue, 28, is already a member of team No. 6. However, a Bears team that finished last in sacks in 2022 paid the former Jaguars, Vikings, Ravens, Raiders, and Colts sack artist a $10.5MM contract. This season, Ngakoue has not missed a game. Despite Ngakoue’s late-game injury on Sunday, Eberflus said he played through it. Given the severity of this disease, it is understandable that the plan will not be carried out.

This also brings an end to Ngakoue’s impressive run. The former Jaguars third-round pick entered this season as the only active player with at least eight sacks in seven consecutive seasons. With four sacks in his first season with the Bears, the NFL nomad will fall short of that mark. Ngakoue will also finish with a career-low seven quarterback hits, having never had fewer than 11. Ngakoue, on the other hand, had demonstrated durability with his previous teams; the Maryland alum has never missed more than two games in a season and has been sidelined for only four times in his career. He’ll soon equal that total.

Last season, the Bears had only 20 sacks after trading Khalil Mack and Robert Quinn in 2022. This season, they have 21 points after 13 games. That total remains 31st, despite the fact that Chicago upped the ante at the trade deadline by acquiring Montez Sweat. Outbidding the Falcons, the Bears sent the Commanders a second-round pick in exchange for Sweat. He has 3.5 sacks as a Bear and 10 this season. While Ngakoue led the Bears in sacks, the Sweat trade diminished his value to the team. Sweat will now see early action as the team’s pass-rush anchor.

This offseason, Chicago added DeMarcus Walker and Rasheem Green. Walker was a starter prior to the Sweat trade, and the $7MM-per-year player is expected to return to the starting lineup. The Bears are one game out of the No. 7 spot in the NFC playoff race, which is crowded with teams tied at 6-7, including the Packers, who currently hold the final wild-card spot. Chicago will be hoping that Walker and Green can assist Sweat in the future.