Bears tight-lipped about mysterious deactivation of star linebacker Roquan Smith – Yahoo Sports

Bears tight-lipped about mysterious deactivation of star linebacker Roquan Smith - Yahoo Sports thumbnail

In a circulate that came as a total shock Sunday afternoon, the Chicago Bears deactivated megastar linebacker Roquan Smith less than one hour sooner than Sunday’s 16-6 steal over the Minnesota Vikings for “private causes.” What came next raised even more eyebrows: Smith watched from the sideline in a sweatsuit and then left without talking to newshounds, leaving head coach Matt Nagy to refuse additional declare on whether Smith also can honest be impacted in future video games.

It became an piquant building left hanging over a disjointed steal for the Bears. While they moved to 3-1 and kept stir with the Green Bay Packers for first location in the NFC North, as well they lost starting quarterback Mitchell Trubisky to a shoulder distress that sooner or later keep his left (non-throwing) arm in a sling. Even that distress perceived to defend a support seat to the thriller of Smith’s deactivation. In particular in a sport the attach the Bears had been facing Vikings running support Dalvin Cook dinner, who has been one in all the league’s most dynamic offensive gamers this season.

Bears inside linebacker Roquan Smith (58), pictured in the season opener at home against the Packers, was scratched from the starting lineup on Sunday in a victory against the NFC North rival Vikings. (Getty Images)

Bears internal linebacker Roquan Smith (58), pictured in the season opener at home towards the Packers, became scratched from the starting lineup on Sunday in a victory towards the NFC North rival Vikings. (Getty Photos)


It’s rare to gaze a workers sit down a reputedly wholesome megastar internal linebacker of Smith’s caliber, let by myself towards one in all the league’s finest running backs. It’s even more rare to gaze a workers private it without a clarification from the coach, player or any of the player’s teammates — many of whom also expressed shock on the deactivation. The oddity became so pronounced and enigmatic that it triggered a lunge of wild and unsubstantiated hypothesis on social media, as fans and newshounds sought solutions for the circulate.

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Asked for the explanation in the support of Smith being deactivated on Sunday, Nagy offered simply: “I’m going to maneuver away it because it’s entirely a non-public matter — and I’m factual going to totally proceed away it at that.”

Pressed on whether Smith’s absence may well prolong previous Sunday’s sport, Nagy as soon as more declined to answer to, repeating that it became a “private matter” for the linebacker.

The Bears’ next sport is Oct. 6 in London towards the Oakland Raiders.

The closing-minute scratch became announced in the clicking field as a downgrade for “private causes” roughly an hour sooner than kickoff. Smith became then announced as being on the lazy listing sooner than kickoff, sooner or later searching on the sport from the Bears’ sideline. Belief to be one in all the NFL’s most promising internal linebackers and a foundational cornerstone of the Bears at finest 22 years aged, the 2018 first-spherical defend shut out of Georgia entered Sunday with 24 tackles in his first three video games.

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