NFL Injury Report: Bears Are Going to Miss Marion Barber vs. Falcons

It's not going to be easy for the Chicago Bears to overcome the Atlanta Falcons in their season opener on Sunday. The Falcons are one of the best teams in the NFL, and they present a variety of mismatches for the reigning NFC North champs.

The news gets worse. On Thursday, word came out from Mark Potash of the Chicago Sun-Times that running back Marion Barber was unable to practice on Wednesday, and that it appeared "unlikely" that he was going to be able to go against the Falcons.

"We’re running out of time a little bit for Marion," said Bears head coach Lovie Smith. "But he’s feeling a little better. So hopefully we’ll be able to get him on the field before long."

But it was not to be. Later on Thursday, Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune reported via Twitter that Barber was once again unable to practice.

So at this point, the writing is on the wall. The calf injury that Barber suffered in Chicago's third preseason game at the Tennessee Titans may be getting better, but it does indeed seem unlikely that he is going to be ready to hit the field by the time Sunday rolls around.

This is bad news for the Bears. Along with starting running back Matt Forte, Barber was supposed to help give the Bears a formidable rushing attack. With him out, the Bears are going to face the Falcons with just Forte and Kahlil Bell, who has carried the ball a grand total of 40 times in his brief NFL career.

The lack of a full stable of running backs has the potential to kill the Bears against the Falcons. It means more work for Jay Cutler, which is a tricky enough proposition to begin with.

Add that to the fact he'll be behind a leaky offensive line that is going to be tasked with stopping an improved Atlanta pass rush, and it's pretty clear the Bears offense is going to be up against it.

So it's too bad the Bears aren't going to have Barber at their disposal. They could have given him and Forte a steady diet of carries in hopes of wearing the Falcons down and chewing up clock. Instead, they're going to have to improvise.

But hey, it's not like the Bears are at fault here. It's not like they could have avoided a sudden shortage of running backs.

Well, I guess they could have hung on to Chester Taylor...

LIFE HURTS. THIS INJURY UPDATE BROUGHT TO YOU BY DICKIES