The Chicago Bears activated cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon off injured reserve on Thursday ahead of Friday’s game at the Philadelphia Eagles.

The move is a major boost for a Bears defense, primarily the secondary, that’s been ravaged with injuries this season. Chicago has played without Johnson and Gordon for most of the season while cornerback Tyrique Stevenson has also battled through some injuries.

Johnson hasn’t had any injury luck since the offseason. He missed all of training camp with calf and groin injuries that forced him to miss the first game of the season before he made his debut against the Detroit Lions in Week 2. But Johnson injured his groin in another area against the Lions that required surgery.

The luck didn’t get too much better for Gordon. He missed the final couple weeks of camp with a hamstring injury and seemed poised to be ready for the season-opener. But Gordon re-injured himself and didn’t make his debut until Week 6 against the Washington Commanders. He played in two games before he suffered a calf injury that landed him in injured reserve.

Chicago has found some dependable fill-ins while both players dealt with their respective injuries. Nahshon Wright was expected to be a depth piece when the team signed him over the offseason. He’s tied with Bears safety Kevin Byard for the league lead with five interceptions.

C.J. Gardner-Johnson has also played well in the four games he’s played in Chicago in Gordon’s absence. He has three sacks along with four quarterback hits and one forced fumble.

While the Bears will be excited to have both players back, they will be careful with their usage Friday.

“I just I go back to the moment we started practicing them,” Bears head coach Ben Johnson said. “It was with the big picture in mind. How do we acclimate them, make sure that we’re putting them in a good spot? So throughout the course of the weeks of practice, we’ve been able to slowly increase the rep count there, and then, yeah, we’ll be very mindful of that when we do get them up and going in a game, just we don’t want to throw them into the wolves or put them in a bad spot. So yeah, that’s all been talked about, and we have a plan for it.”

Chicago placed rookie offensive lineman Luke Newman on injured reserve with a foot injury and waived running back Brittain Brown. The Bears also elevated linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin and offensive lineman Jordan McFadden from the practice squad.