The defending NFC champion Chicago Bears have lost two defensive starters, free safety Mike Brown and nose tackle Dusty Dvoracek, to season-ending knee injuries sustained in the team's opening-day defeat at San Diego on Sunday afternoon.
Brown
Dvoracek
Follow-up MRI examinations on both players confirmed on Monday that both have suffered ligament damage to their left knees. Bears officials had feared as much on Sunday evening.
The loss of Brown is particularly devastating since this will mark the fourth year in a row in which the star-crossed defensive back will miss significant playing time, and the third time in four seasons that his campaign ended prematurely with him on the injured reserve list. It will increase to 43 the number of games that Brown has missed in the past four years.
Fearing the worst, Brown, 29, was emotionally distraught in the Chicago locker room on Sunday evening, after injuring his knee with 10 minutes remaining in the game. He called the injury "another sad day in the chapter of my football career."
Said Brown, who is recognized as the emotional leader of the Chicago secondary, and a safety who specialized in big, game-altering plays early in his career: "It's a shame. It hurts my feelings really bad."
Brown missed 14 games in 2004 with a ruptured Achilles tendon, four in 2005 because of a severely strained calf, and 10 last season with a Lisfranc foot sprain. The former Nebraska star never missed a game the first four seasons of his NFL tenure (2000-03), but has not played a full season since 2003.
The former Pro Bowl performer (2005) moved from strong safety to free safety this spring to accommodate the Bears' acquisition of Adam Archuleta in a trade, and had a strong training camp. Before the injury on Sunday, he was authoring an excellent game, with four tackles, an interception that set up Chicago's only score, two passes defensed and a fumble recovery that rebuffed a San Diego scoring opportunity.
For his career, Brown, a second-round choice in the 2000 draft, has 304 tackles, four sacks, 15 interceptions, 22 passes defensed, and four forced fumbles.
Chicago coaches likely will choose between Danieal Manning and Brandon McGowan as his replacement at free safety. Manning started 14 games as a rookie in 2006.
Dvoracek, 24, missed his entire 2006 rookie season when he was placed on injured reserve with a foot injury sustained in preseason. His starting assignment on Sunday represented the first appearance of his career, and he had two tackles before his injury.
A third-round choice, the former Oklahoma standout won the starting job in training camp this summer, filling the void left by the Bears' release of suspended nose tackle Tank Johnson.
Veteran tackle Darwin Walker, acquired last month in a trade with the Buffalo Bills, is the likely replacement for Dvoracek in the starting lineup.
Senior writer Len Pasquarelli covers the NFL for ESPN.com.
Source: ESPN.com
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