The Chicago Bears cut their roster down to 85 by Tuesday’s 3 p.m. deadline. Unfortunately, one of their rookie offensive linemen was put on IR en route to finalizing today’s roster trim.
Center Doug Kramer, a sixth-round pick from Illinois, goes on injured reserve with what the team is calling a lower leg injury. Earlier on Tuesday, Brad Biggs (Tribune) reported the Bears were fearing was a Lisfranc injury, which is commonly known as a foot fracture. Kramer played a team-leading 48 snaps in Saturday’s preseason game against the Chiefs, but we won’t be seeing him for a while. Nailing down a recovery time isn’t precise. And even if it was, different players recover from injuries differently (which is something to consider when diagnosing injury). This piece from the NFL’s website from 2013 breaks down the injury and potential recovery times. I’d recommend reading it for further depth and insight.
Now, all of a sudden, the addition of UDFA rookie Corey Dublin (who played center and guard at Tulane) makes a lot more sense given Kramer’s injury.
As for the other moves the Bears made to get down to 85 roster spots:
Next up for the Bears is a trip to Seattle, where they’ll play the Seahawks. After that, another round of roster cuts that are due next Tuesday (Aug. 23). That batch of cuts will get the Bears to 80 players. One week after those cuts, the team will have to make a bunch of decisions as it has to get the roster down to 53 by 3 p.m. CT on Aug. 30.