Bears cornerback Terell Smith is out for the season with a torn patellar tendon

Brad Biggs, Chicago Tribune on Aug 20, 2025

Published in Football

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CHICAGO — The Chicago Bears will be without cornerback Terell Smith this season after he suffered a torn patellar tendon in his left knee during Sunday night’s preseason victory over the Buffalo Bills.

Multiple sources confirmed the news Wednesday, and it’s a blow to a position that was hit hard by injuries earlier in the preseason and training camp. Smith is expected to undergo surgery soon.

Smith, a fifth-round pick in 2023 out of Minnesota, was pushing to claim a spot on the 53-man roster. He was injured late in the second quarter defending Bills wide receiver Kristian Wilkerson on a 25-yard pass along the sideline.

Smith’s left knee buckled, and he went to the turf as he attempted to make the play. He had to be taken by cart to the locker room.

The Bears signed four defensive backs after the first preseason game as Ameer Speed, Major Burns and Shaun Wade were either waived/injured or placed on injured reserve. Cornerback Jaylon Johnson has yet to practice after suffering a calf injury just before reporting to training camp, and nickel cornerback Kyler Gordon has been week to week with a hamstring injury but returned to practice Wednesday.

The Bears are confident Johnson will be available for the season opener against the Minnesota Vikings, but a position that looked deep last month has been thinned out. Fortunately, significant injuries haven’t affected the first unit.

Smith had come on recently with four pass breakups in the joint practice with the Miami Dolphins and a deflection in the first preseason game that would have been a pick-six had he not dropped the ball.

“I thought he was making a lot of progress,” defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said. “The injuries, an unfortunate situation. He’s a quiet guy, but he comes to work every day and does his job. He’s been good for us to work with.”

The 26-year-old made two starts last season and got semi-regular playing time in a rotation with Tyrique Stevenson. Smith had one interception and four pass breakups. He made four starts as a rookie in 2023.

With Smith out of the mix, it could clear a path for Nick McCloud to claim a roster spot with cuts to 53 due Tuesday. McCloud and Smith appeared to be battling for the final spot at the position.

The Bears have carried six cornerbacks on the initial 53-man roster in all three previous seasons under general manager Ryan Poles. Johnson, Gordon, Stevenson, Nahshon Wright and Josh Blackwell are probably well-positioned for spots.

After that group, McCloud is probably next. He has gotten some time with the first unit during training camp and caught Allen’s eye in the first week of practice. Rookie fifth-round pick Zah Frazier doesn’t appear to be a candidate for a job at this point as he has missed all of camp for what the team has called personal reasons.

McCloud was looking for a fresh start after a tumultuous 2024 season split between the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers (see No. 8 in Monday’s 10 thoughts). He has been used to cover the slot as well as on the outside, and he has ample special teams experience with 1,196 career snaps in that phase.

Even with the loss of Smith, Allen remains confident about the depth at cornerback. It’s certainly a group with experience.

“No. 1, (defensive backs coach/passing game coordinator) Al (Harris) has done a great job with those corners of getting them to play our style of defense,” Allen said. “Our pass defense has been pretty good throughout the course of training camp and the preseason.

“I told the players this: The best example of team defense is pass defense because one doesn’t work without the other. If we’re not disrupting the timing of the routes, then it doesn’t really matter how good our rush is. Then if we have great rush but we’re not doing anything in terms of covering the guys, it’s a challenge. That works together.

“Depth is what you need in this league because eventually injuries happen. You’re going to have to call upon some guys that are going to be backup players to come out and play at a starter’s level. We’re going to need all these guys.”

The Bears reported having three running backs in for a tryout Tuesday — Royce Freeman, Kylin James and Dillon Johnson — but no cornerbacks. They signed the veteran Freeman on Wednesday and placed undrafted rookie running back Deion Hankins (quadriceps) on IR.

Freeman, 29, was briefly on the Bears practice squad in December. The former third-round pick out of Oregon has been with eight teams in seven years in the league.

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