(Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – FEBRUARY 28: Marshawn Kneeland #DL41 of the Western Michigan Broncos speaks to the media during the 2024 NFL Draft Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium on February 28, 2024 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
It’s not even been a week since the tragic apparent suicide of Cowboys end Marshawn Kneeland, and still, the news is raw for most around the organization. It’s even more painful, of course, for those who were closest to Kneeland, especially his longtime girlfriend, Catalina Marcena, who has been his partner since Kneeland was a collegiate player at Western Michigan.
It was Marcena who alerted police back on November 5 that Kneeland was armed and could be a danger to himself, warning of his history of mental illness. In the days since, Marcena has remained out of the spotlight, but she did finally speak this week, at first telling the Daily Mail, “It’s too much.”
She went on: “I’m grieving hard right now. It will be a long time before I’ll feel ready to talk at any length. We’re still in the early stages of everything. We are working on the funeral arrangements. I don’t know where it’s going to be yet.”
Marcena, who founded a clothing line called, SZN Stitches, posted to Facebook this week, writing, “my sweet baby, words could never express how broken I feel, you’re my everything. I’ll love you forever my beautiful angel.”
Kneeland was just 24 when he died. Marcena is 22.
FacebookCowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland and girlfriend Catalina Marcena, from her Facebook post.
Kneeland’s death came 20 months after the death of his mother, Wendy.
Back on February 18, 2024, just days before the start of the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, where Kneeland would solidify his professional future after his career at Western Michigan, Wendy, died suddenly of an undisclosed illness. Kneeland headed into the Combine with a heavy heart, of course, but did not go public about his mother’s death.
He said at the time, “A lot of people don’t know because I really don’t talk about it too much … It was tough, it still is, but I know at the end of the day the thing that gets me through it is she spent all her life trying to get me to go here and supported me as much as she could to get me to the NFL.”
Around the NFL this week, there were moments of silence held for Kneeland as the Cowboys were idle in their bye week. The Cowboys are returning to practice, and trying to return to business as usual, as much as possible, in preparation for Monday’s game against the Raiders.
Team owner Jerry Jones first addressed Kneeland’s death publicly in a radio interview in Dallas this week, saying he was, “devastated.”
“I think we all have unfettered feelings about the people we love, people we work with, and this is just a time when you acknowledge that there’s no answers,” Jones said on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas. “It makes you want to live life to the fullest. It makes you want to look for the very best in what we have for each other. And in some way make sense out of these times in terms of what they can mean from helping those that are here on Earth right now.
“All of those things are very natural, come to mind, but his death is such a national awareness thing that it takes on some of that light when we think about how we go forward.”
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Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson.
The Chicago Bears are still not precisely sure when they will have Pro Bowl cornerback Jaylon Johnson back in their lineup, but there is new optimism about his return following the latest update from head coach Ben Johnson.
Johnson, a two-time Pro Bowl cornerback, has been on injured reserve since September 20 after he suffered a groin injury in Week 2’s loss that forced him to undergo surgery.
Since his injury, though, the Bears have left the door open for him to potentially return to the field during the 2025 season, especially if they remain in the NFC playoff hunt.
Ben Johnson also said Wednesday that his top cornerback is “hopeful” that he will be ready to return to practice “soon” as they start preparing for Week 11’s next game.
“We should be able to get them back at some point end of the season here, but kind of too be determined on when those clocks will start clicking here,” Johnson said when asked for updates on the return timelines for both Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon.
“I just saw Jaylon in the weight room. He’s excited about where he is right now and is hopeful that he’s gonna be able to be out on the practice field here soon.”
While Ben Johnson’s indication that Jaylon Johnson could start practicing again soon is the biggest update on the 26-year-old cornerback in months, it was not the only sign in the past few days that one of the Bears defense’s biggest stars is nearing his return.
On November 11, one of Johnson’s rehabilitation specialists shared a video of the Bears cornerback going through a workout to his Instagram account (@footdoctor_moe) and teased his forthcoming return with the caption: “They said Jaylon Johnson was out indefinitely, nahhhhhhh,” accompanied by a lightning emoji and a saluting emoji.
Bears CB Jaylon Johnson continues to push for a return this season. He was seen putting in some work with the caption:
“They said Jaylon Johnson was out indefinitely, nahhhhh ⚡️”
Could he be making a return sooner than we think?
: footdoctor_moe via IG Story
Johnson has several more hurdles he must still clear before he is ready to return for the Bears. The team still hasn’t designated him for return to practice, the first step toward activation that will give him 21 days to ramp up in practice. Then, once he is ready, they must clear a spot for him on the 53-man roster and activate him off injured reserve.
Even still, any progress is good progress for one of the Bears’ best and brightest.
Ben Johnson also offered more reassurance about another one of the Bears’ injured cornerbacks, Gordon, when speaking with reporters ahead of Wednesday’s practice.
Gordon, the Bears’ top slot cornerback, landed on injured reserve on October 25 due to a soft-tissue injury that the team listed as a “groin/calf” on the injury report before his deactivation from the 53-man roster. At the time of his injury, though, Johnson said he believed Gordon’s injury was of the “short-term variety” and that he would return.
That thinking, Johnson said this week, has not changed.
“We’re still thinking that,” Johnson confirmed Wednesday, “so I can’t tell you exactly when, but hopefully in the near future here.”
Gordon must still spend at least one more week on injured reserve, but he will become eligible for activation ahead of Week 12’s home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. If the Bears designate him for return next week, they will have 21 days to activate him — which could make Week 14 or Week 15 a more realistic return date for him.
The Bears (6-3) will next face the Minnesota Vikings (4-5) at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday.