Bears wide receiver Devin Hester didn’t practice on Thursday because of a quad injury, although no one with the team seems to think the injury is all that serious.
It’s probably a good thing that Hester got a day of rest to make sure that he’ll be as healthy as possible for Monday anyway. With Alshon Jeffery out with a broken hand, the Bears are planning to expand the package of plays for Hester in order to fill the hole in their lineup.
“We haven’t really used him in some of the areas that we wanted to use him,” offensive coordinator Mike Tice said, via John Mullin of CSNChicago.com. “But again we’re only a couple of games into this thing and we got a long way to go. We’re going to try to continue to grow his package. His package is going grow by the sheer fact that we lost Alshon this week.”
Hester has just seven catches for 114 yards in a limited offensive role this season. Even with more snaps, it’s no sure thing that he’ll wind up significantly improving on those numbers but the Bears aren’t exactly overwhelmed with other options.
Earl Bennett, who hasn’t played in almost a month because of a hand injury, will also be looked to for increased contributions as long as Bennett is on the sideline. Neither receiver gives the offense exactly what Jeffery provides, so Tice will have to adjust things to the personnel available until their regular offense is back in place.