bostonglobe
When the New England Patriots travel to Chicago, history has been on their side. The Patriots' last loss in the Windy City occurred in 2000, before the franchise won any of its six Super Bowl titles and before either of Thursday's starting quarterbacks was born.
Will that four-game winning streak continue on Thursday night? The Patriots (4-2) enter the game with an injury report that looks like a lengthy receipt.
Offensive guards Alijah Vera-Tucker and Ben Brown will both be sidelined for Thursday's game, as will cornerbacks Carlton Davis III, Karon Prunty, and Channing Canada.
Vera-Tucker was placed on injured reserve on Thursday.
Romeo Doubs joined fellow wide receiver Mack Hollins on injured reserve this week. Doubs suffered a shoulder injury on a 42-yard touchdown catch in Sunday's win over the Jets.
The Bears (4-2) head into Thursday's matchup following a 31-23 victory over the Falcons. Quarterback Caleb Williams returned from a three-game absence and showed no signs of rust, completing 30 of 36 passes for 305 yards and a touchdown.
Can the short-handed Patriots slow down Williams and a potent Bears rushing attack? The game kicks off at 8:15 p.m. and can be seen on Amazon Prime and WCVB Channel 5.
The Globe will provide updates throughout the game.
Patriots-Bears live updates: News, injuries, play-by-play. Click here to refresh | Read more Patriots stories. Three up, three down, and three Patriots to watch vs. the Bears.
6:20 p.m. By Nicole Yang: Drake Maye: Sunday against the Jets wasn't the offense's best day, but Maye turned in a clean sheet with no turnovers and three touchdown passes. His completion percentage (56.3) was lower than average, but that was impacted by A.J. Brown's multiple drops on catchable balls. Maye's early-season woes appear to be behind him. According to Next Gen Stats, he now leads the NFL in deep passing yards this season with 439. That stat is encouraging, as Maye's ability to convert deep downfield was one of his defining qualities last season.
Patriots guard Alijah Vera-Tucker placed on injured reserve. 6:00 p.m. By Cam Kerry: The Patriots placed starting left guard Alijah Vera-Tucker on injured reserve Thursday. Vera-Tucker, 27, signed with the team this offseason after a four-year stint with the Jets. He had appeared in six games prior to picking up a hamstring injury in Sunday's 26-19 win over the Jets. The Patriots elevated offensive lineman Xavier Newman-Johnson to the active roster from their practice squad. Newman-Johnson, 27, has played in 25 career games in stints with the Titans (2022-23) and Jets (2023-25). New England also elevated linebacker Benton Whitley to the active roster. He is from Springfield, Mass. and attended Holy Cross. He has played in six career games between the Vikings and Giants.
Gasper: The Patriots' unsung defense has been the main reason for their success. 5:45 p.m. The Patriots defense forms the low-maintenance, highly valuable bedrock of the team. If Drake Maye and the offense are the cool kids taking Instagram pics, the defense is the button-down-shirt-wearing dad who just gets all the essential errands done. Offense gets the glory in the NFL. Defense does the dirty work. But there's no way the Patriots bounce back from Maye's false start and a 1-2 start to the season to capture three straight heading into Thursday night's matchup with the Bears without the defense standing out and standing its ground. It is the unsung, underrated, metronomic merchant of the Patriots success this season. This defense doesn't rest. It usually befuddles and bottles up opposing offenses and quarterbacks to keep the Patriots in games. The Patriots haven't allowed a 300-yard passer or a 100-yard rusher this season. They're fifth in the league in points allowed at 18.8 per game and sixth in total defense (300.8 yards per game). They're one of two teams not to allow a rush of 20 yards or more. They rank ninth in fewest plays of 20 yards or more surrendered. Even with the outlier, ugly 35-6 loss to Jacksonville in Week 3 in which they allowed the Jaguars to go 5 for 5 in the red zone while Maye treated the football like a Goodwill donation item, the Patriots sit tied for seventh in red-zone touchdown percentage allowed (50 percent). By any measure, this defense is good.
Cam Kerry can be reached at [email protected]. Christopher Price can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Bluesky at christopherprice.bsky.social. Nicole Yang can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on X @nicolecyang. Ben Volin can be reached at [email protected]. Chad Finn can be reached at [email protected]. Matt Pepin can be reached at [email protected].
Originally reported by bostonglobe.