The Bears won’t kick off until Sunday night, but some roster news has crossed the wires on Saturday afternoon.
It is a roster shake-up for Chicago’s football team ahead of the squad’s Sunday Night Football showdown against the Houston Texans. Here is the latest from the Bears:
- Long-snapper Scott Daly has been called up from the practice squad and added to the active roster.
- To make room on the active roster for Daly’s inclusion, the Bears have placed offensive lineman Ryan Bates on injured reserve.
- Practice squad wide receiver Collin Johnson has been elevated onto the active roster. I mentioned this as a possibility in Bullets this morning. It makes sense that this is the direction the Bears went.
Chicago Bears make roster changes ahead of Sunday Night Football
With receivers Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Texans, it makes sense that Chicago is calling up Collin Johnson from the practice squad. The last time we saw Johnson was in the preseason when he was making noise and trying to make the roster as a down-the-depth-chart wideout. An abundance of talent kept Johnson from squeezing onto the roster, but his solid showing in the exhibition season helped land him on the practice squad. And now, he gets elevated onto the game-day roster for SNF. Good for him. I’m not sure if there will be too many snaps for him, but I hope he makes the most of the ones he gets.
MORE: Consider Rome Odunze and Keenan Allen a Game-Time Decision For SNF
I don’t want to read too much into elevating Collin Johnson to the game-day roster. It could mean that either Allen or Odunze won’t be able to give it a go on Sunday. But this move could have been made as a contingency plan in case things don’t go well for either player during warmups. Stay tuned.
The placement of Ryan Bates on injured reserve stings. Bates split time with starting right guard Nate Davis in Week 1. It’s not as if either player set the world on fire with their play, but I was looking forward to seeing the results of the head-to-head competition the two were set to go on during this week’s practice sessions. With Bates out of the lineup for at least the next four games, it looks like Nate Davis will get a(nother) second chance to show that he should be the only right guard option for the Bears. These next four games could be important for Davis’ future.
It was only a matter of time until the Bears called up long-snapper Scott Daly and gave him a spot on the active roster. Daly could have been elevated just two more times this season before the team had to decide whether to add him to the 53-man roster. With Daly on the active roster, we’re reminded that there is no need to rush Patrick Scales back into the lineup. Scales is currently on IR with a back injury. Back problems can be tricky. Here’s hoping Scales is getting his rest and can return as soon as possible.