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(Photo by Michael Hickey\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
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)<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not even been a week since the tragic apparent suicide of\u00a0Cowboys\u00a0end\u00a0Marshawn Kneeland, and still, the news is raw for most around the organization. It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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\u00a0telling the Daily Mail, \u201cIt\u2019s too much.\u201d<\/p>\n
She went on: \u201cI\u2019m grieving hard right now. It will be a long time before I\u2019ll feel ready to talk at any length.\u00a0\u00a0We\u2019re still in the early stages of everything. We are working on the funeral arrangements. I don\u2019t know where it\u2019s going to be yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marcena, who founded a clothing line called, SZN Stitches,\u00a0posted to Facebook\u00a0this week, writing, \u201cmy sweet baby, words could never express how broken I feel, you\u2019re my everything. I\u2019ll love you forever my beautiful angel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kneeland was just 24 when he died. Marcena is 22.<\/p>\n
FacebookCowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland and girlfriend Catalina Marcena, from her Facebook post.<\/p>\n
Kneeland\u2019s death came 20 months after the death of his mother, Wendy.<\/p>\n
Back on February 18, 2024, just days before the start of the\u00a0NFL\u00a0Combine in Indianapolis, where Kneeland would solidify his professional future after his\u00a0 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\u2019s death.<\/p>\n
He said at the time, \u201cA lot of people don\u2019t know because I really don\u2019t talk about it too much \u2026 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u2019s game against the\u00a0Raiders.<\/p>\n
Team owner Jerry Jones first addressed Kneeland\u2019s death publicly in a radio interview in Dallas this week,\u00a0saying he was, \u201cdevastated.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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\u2019s no answers,\u201d Jones said on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas. \u201cIt 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Getty<\/p>\n
Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Chicago Bears\u00a0are still not precisely sure when they will have Pro Bowl cornerback\u00a0Jaylon Johnson\u00a0back in their lineup, but there is new optimism about his return following the latest update from head coach Ben Johnson.<\/p>\n
Johnson, a two-time Pro Bowl cornerback, has been on injured reserve since September 20 after he suffered a groin injury in Week 2\u2019s loss that forced him to undergo surgery.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Ben Johnson also said Wednesday\u00a0that his top cornerback is \u201chopeful\u201d that he will be ready to return to practice \u201csoon\u201d as they start preparing for Week 11\u2019s next game.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe 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,\u201d Johnson said when asked for updates on the return timelines for both Jaylon Johnson and\u00a0Kyler Gordon.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just saw Jaylon in the weight room. He\u2019s excited about where he is right now and is hopeful that he\u2019s gonna be able to be out on the practice field here soon.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Ben Johnson\u2019s 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\u2019s biggest stars is nearing his return.<\/p>\n
On November 11, one of Johnson\u2019s 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: \u201cThey said Jaylon Johnson was out indefinitely, nahhhhhhh,\u201d accompanied by a lightning emoji and a saluting emoji.<\/p>\n
Bears CB Jaylon Johnson continues to push for a return this season. He was seen putting in some work with the caption:<\/p>\n
\u201cThey said Jaylon Johnson was out indefinitely, nahhhhh \u26a1\ufe0f\u201d<\/p>\n
Could he be making a return sooner than we think? <\/p>\n
: footdoctor_moe via IG Story<\/p>\n
Johnson has several more hurdles he must still clear before he is ready to return for the Bears. The team still hasn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
Even still, any progress is good progress for one of the Bears\u2019 best and brightest.<\/p>\n
Ben Johnson also offered more reassurance about another one of the Bears\u2019 injured cornerbacks, Gordon, when speaking with reporters ahead of Wednesday\u2019s practice.<\/p>\n
Gordon, the Bears\u2019 top slot cornerback, landed on injured reserve on October 25 due to a soft-tissue injury that the team listed as a \u201cgroin\/calf\u201d on the injury report before his deactivation from the 53-man roster. At the time of his injury, though, Johnson said he believed Gordon\u2019s injury was of the \u201cshort-term variety\u201d and that he would return.<\/p>\n
That thinking, Johnson said this week, has not changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re still thinking that,\u201d Johnson confirmed Wednesday, \u201cso I can\u2019t tell you exactly when, but hopefully in the near future here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gordon must still spend at least one more week on injured reserve, but he will become eligible for activation ahead of Week 12\u2019s home game against the\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers. If the Bears designate him for return next week, they will have 21 days to activate him \u2014 which could make Week 14 or Week 15 a more realistic return date for him.<\/p>\n
The Bears (6-3) will next face the\u00a0Minnesota Vikings (4-5) at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4180,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hot-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t