Lions Claim CB Marcus Cooper
Marcus Cooper has not factored into the 2018 season much, but he’ll have a chance to make up for lost time with another NFC North team.
The Lions claimed the veteran cornerback off waivers from the Bears on Thursday, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (on Twitter). The claim will be deferred to Friday.
The Bears defeated the Lions in Thanksgiving’s early game, and Cooper will be set for a Chicago-to-Detroit flight soon as well.
He’s played just three snaps this season for the division-leading Bears. A hamstring injury’s intervened, but the Lions are presumably viewing the 28-year-old corner as a better bet to see snaps than the Bears did this year.
Having recently picked up cornerback/special-teamer Don Carey, the Lions may be set to make another move at corner Friday. They have six on the roster prior to Cooper’s arrival. The former Chiefs and Cardinals defender signed a one-year, $1.5MM deal to return to Chicago this year, doing so shortly after the team cut bait on the three-year, $13.5MM pact agreed to in 2017.
Bears To Promote QB Tyler Bray, Cut CB Marcus Cooper
Marcus Cooper‘s second Bears season did not feature much work. The veteran cornerback logged just three defensive snaps in 2018, and his time with Chicago may be ending.
The Bears, who are facing the prospect of being without Mitch Trubisky for their Thanksgiving Day game against the Lions, promoted quarterback Tyler Bray from their practice squad, Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune tweets.
Trubisky was sore this morning and didn’t have as much shoulder movement as he expected to, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets, adding it’s likely Chase Daniel will start in Detroit. This would be Daniel’s first start with the Bears. He did see action in blowout wins over the Buccaneers and Bills, however. Trubisky is listed as doubtful, pointing to a Daniel start in a key game for the NFC North-leading Bears.
Chicago may well have the quarterback depth chart the Chiefs once did behind Alex Smith for a three-year stretch earlier this decade. Both Daniel and Bray were Kansas City backups during a few of Matt Nagy‘s seasons in Kansas City. Despite being a 2013 UDFA, Bray — a Tennessee product — has only thrown one pass in a game. He signed with the Bears this offseason.
Cooper re-signed with the Bears on a one-year, $1.5MM deal this year as well. He started in four games and played in 15 last season, making 30 tackles. The 28-year-old corner missed time this year with a hamstring injury but has been buried on Chicago’s depth chart. He will head to waivers.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/18/18
Today’s practice squad moves:
Chicago Bears
- Released: C James Stone
Detroit Lions
- Signed: LB Nicholas Grigsby
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: QB Phillip Walker
- Released: DE Anthony Winbush
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: DB Josh Hawkins
Bears To Activate Adam Shaheen, Send Dion Sims To IR
Trey Burton will have a different backup tight end Sunday. The Bears will sub out Dion Sims for Adam Shaheen on their 53-man roster, activating the second-year tight end from IR and sending the 2017 free agent signing to the injured list, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com reports (on Twitter).
Chicago designated Shaheen for an IR return last week and had three weeks to activate him. He will likely make his season debut Sunday night against the Vikings.
A concussion will send Sims to IR. The former Dolphins tight end played in eight Bears games during his second season with the franchise but only caught two passes, with first-year Bear Burton becoming the starter this season.
Shaheen came out of Division II Ashland as an athletic marvel but has yet to contribute much as a pro. Preseason ankle and foot injuries sidetracked the 6-foot-5, 270-pound target’s development. He caught 12 passes for 127 yards and three touchdowns last season and poses as an interesting weapon for Mitch Trubisky down the stretch.
Sims did well for himself in free agency last year, signing a three-year, $18MM deal. The $6MM-AAV pact handed to the former Miami backup was more than Austin Seferian-Jenkins or Jared Cook received from their respective teams. Sims, though, has 17 receptions as a Bear in his two-year Windy City run. Considering a 2019 cut would save the Bears $6MM, and with Burton and Shaheen under contract long-term, Sims will surely be a release candidate as the next league year approaches.
Bears Didn't Try To Re-SIgn Tom Compton
- One of Stafford’s weapons, wide receiver Marvin Jones, went down with a knee injury in Sunday’s loss to the Bears, but tests showed the Lions pass-catcher’s ACL and MCL are both intact, tweets Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. However, Jones did suffer a bone bruise and is now considered day-to-day. It’s unclear if Jones will be able to play against the Panthers in Week 11, but Detroit needs all the receivers it can find (having already traded Golden Tate to the Eagles earlier this month). If Jones can’t go, fellow wideouts Bruce Ellington, Brandon Powell, and T.J. Jones would see more work behind starter Kenny Golladay. Marvin Jones, currently in his third season with the Lions, has posted 35 receptions, 508 yards, and five touchdowns this year.
- The Bears did not try to re-sign guard Tom Compton this past offseason, the veteran tells Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press. “No,” he said. “They were pretty up front about that.” Compton wound up signing with the Vikings for less than he made with the Bears in 2017. After earning $1.85MM on a one-year deal with Chicago, he inked a one-year, $900K deal with Minnesota. Originally signed to be a backup, Compton was thrust into the starting lineup after Nick Easton suffered a season-ending injury in August.
Bears Won't Move On From Parkey
- Bears kicker Cody Parkey missed two field goals and two extra points today against Detroit, but Chicago coach Matt Nagy ruled out replacing him after the game, according to ESPN.com. Parkey has now missed five field goals this season, but Nagy flat-out rejected the notion the team would look for a new kicker. Parkey missed a potential game-winner in overtime against the Dolphins a few weeks back.
Khalil Mack To Return For Bears
A third Rob Gronkowski injury absence appears to be in the cards. The Patriots will not deploy their All-Pro tight end to play Sunday against the Titans, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. While Gronkowski is traveling with the team to Nashville, per ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss (on Twitter), he’s expected to be held out. Gronk missed games against the Bears and Packers but played in Buffalo on the Monday night in between those tilts. He’s been dealing with back and ankle trouble. While the Patriots have been able to win without their top pass-catcher, these repeated absences are obviously a concern for the future Hall of Famer’s availability for New England’s stretch run and potentially his post-2018 NFL future. It’s likely the Pats are attempting to rest Gronk now to hopefully see him healthy for key late-season games and the playoffs, but that can’t be considered a lock given his extensive injury history. Gronkowski hitting his incentive targets may now be unrealistic as well.
- Better news for the Bears. They’re in line to have both Khalil Mack and Allen Robinson back on Sunday when they face the Lions, per the Associated Press. Mack is no longer on the injury report after missing the past two Chicago games because of an ankle malady. His defensive player of the year chances took a hit because of this hiatus and Aaron Donald continuing another all-world season but Mack figures to still be in the running and can help a team attempting reach the playoffs for the first time in eight years.
Designated To Return From IR: Burkhead, Shaheen, Davis, Quinn
With more than half of the 2018 campaign in the books, NFL clubs have started to exercise their right to return players from injured reserve. Each team is allowed to bring two players back from IR, but said players must have been retained on their respective club’s initial 53-man roster. Once an IR player returns to practice, his club will have three weeks to decide whether to activate him to their 53-man roster; if he’s not activated, the player will remain on injured reserve for the remainder of the season.
Here are three players who have been designated to return from IR this week:
- Patriots running back Rex Burkhead returned to practice on Thursday, according to Mike Reiss of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Burkhead, who is first eligible to play in Week 13 against the Vikings, is the second and final New England player who is scheduled to return from IR, joining rookie cornerback Duke Dawson. That means other injured Patriots, such as linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley, cornerback Eric Rowe, and offensive lineman Brian Schwenke are officially done for the year. New England doesn’t necessarily need more help at running back: James White and jack-of-all-trades Cordarrelle Patterson have held down the fort in recent weeks, and impressive rookie Sony Michel is expected to return from injury this week. But Burkhead could still carve out a role, and will certainly be a factor on special teams.
- Second-year tight end Adam Shaheen has been designated for return by the Bears, tweets veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer. Shaheen, a second-round pick in 2017, was an impressive athlete coming out of Division II Ashland last year, but didn’t produce much in the way of results during his first NFL campaign. In 13 games (seven starts), Shaheen managed only 12 receptions for 127 yards and three touchdowns. Now that he’s recovered from foot and ankle issues, Shaheen should slot in alongside fellow Chicago tight ends Trey Burton and Dion Sims.
- The Packers have gotten contributions from several young receivers already this season, and they could be getting another youthful pass-catcher back in the near future. Trevor Davis returned to practice earlier this week, per Balzer, and can now be activated at any point in the next three weeks. A fifth-round choice in the 2016 draft, Davis posted 24 receptions last season while playing on 40.5% of Green Bay’s special teams snaps. Now that Geronimo Allison has been placed on injured reserve, Davis could see snaps behind Davante Adams, Randall Cobb, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling.
- Redskins rookie wide receiver Trey Quinn returned to practice today and has been designated to return from IR, tweets Balzer. Quinn suffered an ankle injury in Week 1 after being selected in the seventh round of this year’s draft. Washington is dealing with numerous injuries at the wide receiver position and just placed pass-catcher Paul Richardson on IR, so Quinn could theoretically see snaps down the line.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/6/18
Today’s practice squad moves:
Chicago Bears
- Signed: OL Willie Beavers
Green Bay Packers
- Signed: LB Brady Sheldon
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: OT De’Ondre Wesley
Los Angeles Rams
- Released: T Rick Leonard, DE Ja’Von Rolland-Jones
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: T Storm Norton
New England Patriots
- Released: RB Kenneth Farrow
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: RB Troymaine Pope
- Released: TE Tyrone Swoopes
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: WR Bernard Reedy
- Released: WR Damoun Patterson
Washington Redskins
- Signed: T Jarron Jones
- Released: T Justin Evans
Bears Place Kyle Long On IR
The latest injury Kyle Long‘s sustained will result in a lengthy absence for the former Pro Bowl blocker. The Bears announced they’ve placed their top guard on IR on Saturday.
Long suffered a foot injury in Week 8 and was expected to miss between one and two months of action. It will now be at least two, per IR rules. The sixth-year veteran cannot return until Week 17, if the Bears were intent on bringing Long back. It would be an interesting decision if the Bears were contending for a playoff spot at that point.
The Bears promoted running back Taquan Mizzell from their practice squad, Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune tweets.
This will obviously hurt Chicago’s O-line. Long has dealt with numerous injuries in recent years but returned to be a well-regarded blocker in 2018. Pro Football Focus graded Long as the league’s No. 31 guard through seven games.
Eric Kush also missed Week 8, bringing second-round rookie James Daniels into the starting lineup for the first time. Daniels will be back with the first-stringers in Week 9. If Kush can’t go on Sunday, the Bears have former Chiefs interior lineman Bryan Witzmann and second-year UDFA Rashaad Coward as options. Kush, though, got in a full practice on Friday, placing him on track to be able to suit up Sunday.
Long played in 47 games during his first three NFL seasons — all Pro Bowl campaigns — but missed 14 games between the 2016-17 slates. He’ll add at least eight missed contests to that total. The Bears signed Long to a four-year, $40MM extension in September 2016. The veteran’s injury trouble began immediately after that deal was finalized.