Bears' Montez Sweat suspended for violating NFL's performance-enhancing substances policy

Sweat will miss two important games before his return in November The Chicago Bears will be without edge rusher Montez Sweat for the next two games. The NFL suspended Sweat without pay for violating the league's performance-enhancing substances policy, the league announced on Tuesday. He will be eligible for reinstatement on Friday, Oct. 23. Sweat is set to miss Sunday's road game against the Atlanta Falcons and the Week 7 "Thursday Night Football" clash with the New England Patriots. His first game back from suspension is the Monday night trip to Seattle on Nov. 2, when the Bears face the reigning Super Bowl-champion Seahawks. Across the first five games of 2026, Sweat logged seven tackles and two sacks, the latter of which rank as the third-most on the team.

It has been a relatively slow start for the pass rusher, whose 8.8% quarterback pressure rate is lower than any of his season-long marks from 2019-25. His time to sack of 7.18 seconds is also a career worst by nearly two full seconds. Despite the modest five-game stretch, Sweat remains vital to the Bears' defensive front, which is relatively thin on the edge. Just last season, he led the team in sacks, tackles for loss and quarterback hits, and he paced the squad in sacks for the two years prior. He