Bear Necessities: Bill Belichick on what went wrong with N’Keal Harry in New England

N’Keal Harry is slated to make his Bears debut against his former team, the Patriots. “I’m sure he’ll play hard,” Bill Belichick said.

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Bears receiver N’Keal Harry has been itching to get back on the football field since suffering a high ankle sprain back in early August. While Harry was activated off injured reserve last week, he was inactive for Thursday’s prime-time game against the Commanders.

Now, Harry is slated to make his Bears debut against his former team, the Patriots, on Monday Night Football.

“It’s been hard just sitting here watching, especially once I started going to the games and standing on the sidelines,” Harry said last week, via ESPN. “It just brings you so much closer to the actual game. So I’m excited. I’m ecstatic.”

Let’s be honest, Harry has had this Week 7 game circled on his calendar for a while.

“Absolutely. It’s my old team,” Harry told reporters. “That always comes with wanting to play well.”

The Bears traded a 2024 seventh-round draft pick to the Patriots for Harry earlier this offseason after he failed to live up to expectations in his first three seasons.

Before Monday’s prime-time game, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was asked about Harry’s failed career in New England.

“Big, talented kid,” Belichick said Wednesday, via NESN’s Zack Cox. “Things didn’t really work out here the way that I think all of us hoped for. Everybody tried, it just didn’t work out. I’m sure he’ll be ready to go, and I’m sure he’ll play hard.”

Harry will have a chance to make an impact in his Bears debut, where there hasn’t been a lot of production in the passing game.

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