NEWSLETTER
It appears one of the receivers who attended a Chicago Bears tryout last week has stood out above the rest:
Told the #Bears are expected to sign WR Mario Alford. He recently worked out for the team.
— Adam Jahns (@adamjahns) September 12, 2017
Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times reports the Bears are expected to sign Mario Alford in the wake of Kevin White’s broken shoulder and impending trip to injured reserve. Whether Alford joins the active 53-man roster or practice squad remains to be seen, but there is no denying the Bears are in desperate need of bodies at the position.
Alford and White were teammates at West Virginia, though Alford was a seventh-round pick by the Cincinnati Bengals the same year the Bears chose White with the seventh overall selection. Listed at 5-foot-8, Alford might not replace White in the starting lineup, but could take some reps as a return specialist and allow Deonte Thompson to focus more on working with the receivers.
The team was expected to explore free agent options ahead of its Week 2 matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. An already thin group is now without its top two receivers, while a third (Markus Wheaton) is still recovering from a broken pinkie finger.
Alford was joined by fellow receivers Montay Crockett, Frankie Hammond, and Darreus Rogers last week in a tryout at Halas Hall. The tryout also featured four defensive backs, a position group that was spared from the wrath of the injury bug – at least for one week.
