CHICAGO -- Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford rested his sore back against the Bears. Given the way players were dropping in the 20-13 loss, perhaps it was for the best.

Ty Johnson earned the start at running back because Kerryon Johnson is on injured reserve with a knee injury, but left in the first quarter after he sustained a brain injury. Detroit finished with just Paul Perkins and J.D. McKissic in the offensive backfield, although still managed to run for 98 yards on 27 carries, the club’s second-best day of the season.

Of course, having a running quarterback helps. Jeff Driskel led Detroit with 37 yards on five carries.

But a few moments after Johnson left for the locker room, right tackle Rick Wagner was carted there with a brain injury of his own. Tyrell Crosby replaced him at right tackle. He played alongside right guard Graham Glasgow, who was questionable with a back injury, while Joe Dahl was questionable with an ankle injury at left guard.

The defensive line had its own issues, with Mike Daniels leaving with a leg injury and Kevin Strong leaving with a rib injury. Romeo Okwara (groin) and Da’Shawn Hand (ankle) didn’t play at all, while A’Shawn Robinson suffered a thumb injury during the game and Snacks Harrison was playing through a groin injury. Put it all together, and Detroit finished with just two healthy players up front: Trey Flowers and John Atkins.

Tracy Walker (knee) and Miles Killebrew (brain) didn’t play at all at safety, leaving Detroit with just three players there: Tavon Wilson and rookies Will Harris and C.J. Moore. That forced cornerback Mike Ford to play some on the back line -- and then he had to fill in at cornerback when Darius Slay, questionable with a hamstring injury, left the game with another injury.

Even punter Sam Martin was banged up, playing through an abdomen injury that was serious enough to prompt Detroit to add a punter to the practice squad this week.

So while the Lions were hurt by Stafford’s absence more than anything else, injuries across the roster compounded the loss, as a bad running team tried to figure out how to run without three running backs and a terrible defense tried to get stops with just two healthy defensive linemen.

“Obviously, the injury situation is always hard,” coach Matt Patricia said. "It’s hard with the ones we had before the game, because then we get in the game, if there’s anything that happens, your kind of really thin as far as what you can do in some of those situations.

“It is what it is. We got to go out and we got to perform and do got to do better, and we just got to try to find a way to win. The biggest thing for us is there’s just some plays out there that if we just make either way, it changes everything. We’re in there, we’re tough, we’re battling, we’re fighting all the way through. It’s a competitive game and for us we just got to start making some of those plays.”

Now the focus turns to the health of this team, especially at quarterback, as they return home next week to face the NFC East-leading Dallas Cowboys.