The return of second-year edge rusher Austin Booker from injured reserve has been one of the most anticipated roster related developments of the Bears’ season.

Chicago opened Booker’s 21-day practice window coming out of the bye ahead of their Monday Night Football matchup against the Washington Commanders. He was a full participant in practice all week, which had fans hoping for a debut — but when game day rolled around, he wasn’t activated.

The Bears still pulled out a 25–24 win, but the pass rush remains a glaring flaw. This defense is surviving on takeaways, but lacks disruption. They’re not consistently pushing quarterbacks off their spots, they’re weak against the run, and negative plays are rare.

If not for the 11 turnovers Chicago has forced over the last three games, it’s hard to say where this unit — and this team — would be right now.

Here’s the most telling stat: Dominique Robinson currently leads all Bears edge rushers with 1.5 sacks… and he’s played fewer than 30 percent of the defensive snaps.

That’s why Booker’s return feels like it carries more weight than usual. A fifth-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, he was raw but skilled coming out of Kansas. He posted just 1.5 sacks as a rookie, but he made legitimate strides during the offseason then flashed his potential in the preseason with three sacks in two games. Suddenly, there was some real belief the Bears might have found something.

So when Chicago cut veteran edge rusher Tanoh Kpassagnon earlier this week, it felt like a signal: Booker was on track to make his season debut at home against the Saints on October 19.

Then came the curveball.

Saturday roster moves came and went, and Booker remains on IR. Kpassagnon was re-signed — but only to the practice squad.

According to Kevin Fishbain of The Athletic, both Booker and linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga will stay on IR for at least another week.

It’s not a catastrophic blow by any means. The Bears have won football games without Booker before and there’s for them to do it again. But it is a letdown for a fanbase that was ready to see this defensive front finally get a jolt of juice off the edge.

For now, Chicago will ride with the rotation they’ve got and hope the defense can do just enough to keep Spencer Rattler uncomfortable in a game the Bears are actually favored to win at home.

Hopefully this isn’t an injury setback and more a matter of conditioning — getting fully up to speed in Dennis Allen’s defense and back into true “football shape.”

It’s a bit bizarre to see someone be a full participant in practice in two straight weeks without being activated to play in the game. But here we are.