Bears place Austin Booker on IR, sign two to 53-man roster

The Bears made a handful of moves to their 53-man roster on Thursday, as first noted by Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune.

Their moves are as follows:

• Send defensive end Austin Booker to the injured reserve with a knee injury.
• Promote long snapper Scott Daly and wide receiver Devin Duvernay from the practice squad to the 53-man roster.
• Place linebacker Carl Jones Jr. on waivers.

Booker suffered his injury in the Bears’ preseason win over the Bills. With four sacks, he led the NFL in preseason sacks, despite only playing in two games. The injured reserve designation means that he will miss at least the first four weeks of the 2025 NFL season. Since Chicago’s bye week falls on Week 5, the first game he will be eligible to return for will be their Week 6 matchup against the Commanders.

Both Daly and Duvernay were released on Wednesday, after the Bears claimed linebacker D’Marco Jackson and cornerback Jaylon Jones off waivers. Since the two veterans each have more than four seasons of accrued NFL playing time, they were not subject to waivers and hence were immediately signed back to the practice squad.

Placing Booker on the IR opened up a roster spot for the Bears, as did the waiving of Jones. An undrafted free agent from UCLA in 2024, Jones spent most of his rookie season on Chicago’s practice squad. Unless a team claims him off waivers, it’s safe to assume he’ll be heading back to the practice squad once he clears.