Bears safety Coby Bryant Reported to Miss 8-10 Weeks with Knee Injury

With the Chicago Bears ramping up training camp by practicing in full pads on Monday at Halas Hall, the team sustained its first major injury of the summer.

Safety Coby Bryant was covering tight end Cole Kmet during 1-on-1s and landed on the grass. The veteran safety was visibly upset, slamming his helmet on the ground and attending to his leg before being taken off the field on a cart. 

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, Bryant "is expected to be sidelined 8-10 weeks due to a hyperextended knee, bone bruise and small fracture that he suffered at today’s practice, per sources. No surgery is expected to be needed."

After the injury, veteran defensive back Cam Lewis took over for Bryant for the remainder of practice and played opposite of rookie Dillon Thieneman. 

Lewis signed a two-year, $6 million contract with the Bears this offseason. The 5-foot-9, 183-pound defensive back played in all 17 regular season games last season with the Buffalo Bills, registering 35 total tackles, four passes defensed and two fumble recoveries. 

Buffalo used Lewis all over the field in 2025. 

Alignment Snap Counts via Pro Football Focus:

The Bears signed Bryant to a three-year, $40 million contract this offseason. Chicago lost both of its starting safeties from last season, and the Bears revamped the room by signing Bryant and drafting Thieneman 25th overall. 

If Bryant is sidelined for 8-10 weeks, he would miss the first two games this season against the Carolina Panthers and Minnesota Vikings. Everything would have to go right, but in eight weeks, the Bears host the Philadelphia Eagles at Soldier Field on Monday Night Football. 

While Bryant recovers, that means Lewis will have to take over for now. This will allow the versatile defensive back to establish some chemistry with Thieneman in the backend of Dennis Allen's defense. 

Bryant quickly established himself as a veteran leader on the defense and someone young players could go to if they had questions. Tight end Colston Loveland provided his reaction after he saw Bryant go down in Monday's practice. 

"You know, it always sucks to see," Loveland said. "That's part of it. You know, he's tough, he's a dog. He's going to be fine. We're not worried about it but I don't know. We'll leave that to coach Johnson."

Veteran cornerback Tyrique Stevenson was asked about Bryant's injury after practice, but he didn't want to dive into the topic, but said he is "praying for him to be out there tomorrow or end of this week with us."

That won't be the case, but the veteran cornerback did share what Bryant brings to the Bears' defense. 

"He's like a spark plug," Stevenson said. "He's come in with the juice. Obviously from practice, when he's coming out in the middle of the field to make PBUs, he's just a spark plug. He's bringing that energy every day and he done won it at the highest level so he's not letting nobody slip under the standard."

It's early, but the Bears are already down two starters in the their secondary. Bryant and nickel cornerback Kyler Gordon, who is dealing with a soft-tissue injury. 

The Bears were familiar with playing with a depleted secondary last season, as Gordon and cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson and Stevenson all missed time because of injuries. 

Chicago is scheduled to have another fully padded practice on Tuesday.