BOURBONNAIS, Ill. - Chicago Bears running back Jeremy Langford was sidelined on Friday because of a low right ankle sprain he suffered during a closed walkthrough practice the night before.
"Last night, with Jeremy, in our walkthrough, he kind of rolled his ankle a little bit," Bears coach John Fox said. Langford, 25, suffered a high right ankle sprain last year in Week 3 at Dallas that cost him four games and eventually required surgery to correct. Langford spent Chicago's offseason program rehabbing the ankle.
Fox, however, cautioned against overreacting to Langford's latest setback: "Completely different than the repair he had. It was more of a low ankle sprain. Slight. It's low ankle and, so, it's not catastrophic."
But it's another blow to Langford, who appeared on the brink of stardom after a productive rookie year in 2015 when he combined for 816 all-purpose yards and seven touchdowns as Matt Forte's main backup. Langford began training camp last summer as the Bears' No. 1 running back -- Forte had signed with the New York Jets in free agency -- but he eventually lost the job to Jordan Howard, who finished second in the NFL with 1,313 rushing yards. Langford had only 342 all-purpose yards in his second season in Chicago.
Langford's roster spot for 2017 is far from secure. While Howard and 2017 fourth-round pick Tarik Cohen are locks to make the team, Langford will have to duke it out with Ka'Deem Carey and return specialist Benny Cunningham for the final spots in the Bears' backfield.