Windy City Gridiron
Earlier today, the Chicago Bears made another wave of cuts as they work their way towards Tuesday’s 53-man roster deadline. You can catch up with all the moves in our tracker here, but there were a couple of significant moves I wanted to spotlight.
The Bears placed rookie fifth-round draft pick Zah Frazier on the Reserve/Non-Football Injury list, which is for players who suffered injuries or ailments outside of regular NFL activities. Frazier missed all of training camp with what the team has continually called a personal matter, and there were no specifics given today. Regardless of the reason, Frazier will be unable to be activated for at least four games.
Pro Bowl cornerback Jaylon Johnson has been on the Active/Non-Football Injury list since suffering an injury this offseason while training on his own. The Bears will need to either activate him on Tuesday when they establish their 53-man roster or move him to the Reserve/NFI list.
Among today’s transactions, the Bears waived running back Ian Wheeler, who tied for the preseason team lead with 100 yards rushing. They also released running back Royce Freeman, whom they signed last week.
With Wheeler and Freeman gone, and Roschon Johnson, Kyle Monangai, and Travis Homer still sidelined with injuries, the Bears only had two healthy tailbacks at Monday’s practice, starter D’Andre Swift and Brittain Brown, who also had 100 yards rushing in the preseason.
The Bears open the season two weeks from today, so if the injuries are expected to linger, keep an eye on a free agent pick-up or the waiver wire, which will process on Wednesday at 11 a.m. CT.
