Marquess Wilson Fractures Foot
- Bears wideout Marquess Wilson fractured his left foot in practice Friday for the third time since 2015, according to Jeff Dickerson of ESPN.com. Head coach John Fox is unsure if Wilson will need surgery, but the Bears are likely to place him on injured reserve prior to Sunday’s game against Green Bay. This injury could potentially end Wilson’s tenure with the Bears, as the 2013 seventh-round pick will be a free agent in the offseason. The 24-year-old has hauled in nine passes for 160 yards and a touchdown this season, and has amassed 56 receptions and three scores in 31 career games.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/15/16
Today’s practice squad moves:
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: CB Sam Brown
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: LB Bryson Albright, RB Cedric O’Neal
Chicago Bears
- Signed: CB De’Vante Bausby
- Placed On P-Squad IR: TE Justin Perillo
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: DL Trevon Coley
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: Kitt O’Brien
Bears Likely To Release Eddie Royal After Season
- Bears receiver Eddie Royal is likely to end up a cap casualty in the offseason, writes Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune. By moving on from Royal, who has one year left on his contract, the Bears would save $5MM and incur no dead money in 2017. The 30-year-old Royal has hauled in 33 catches for 369 yards and two touchdowns in nine games this season, his second in Chicago.
Bears Lose Ronald Powell To Seahawks
- The Seahawks have signed linebacker Ronald Powell off the Bears’ practice squad, according to Larry Holder of NOLA.com (Twitter link). Powell’s only NFL experience came as a member of the Saints in 2014, when he appeared in 14 games and made one tackle.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/14/16
The latest practice squad moves from around the NFL:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: Marvin Hall Jr.
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: CB Ryan White
- Cut: OL Kevin Graf
Buffalo Bills
- Signed OLB Greg Townsend Jr.
Chicago Bears
- Signed: LB Josh Shirley
Denver Broncos
- Signed: RB Zac Brooks
- Cut: RB Terrell Watson
Houston Texans
- Signed: T Laurence Gibson, WR Tevin Jones
New York Giants
- Signed: RB Russell Hansbrough
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: FB Austin Johnson
Bears Sign MyCole Pruitt
- The Bears have signed tight end MyCole Pruitt off the Vikings‘ practice squad, tweets Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispacth, while Chicago announced that it has cleared a roster spot by waiving defensive back De’Vante Bausby. Pruitt, a 2015 fifth-round pick, has played in 18 games over the past two years.
Bill Polian Denies Bears Rumors
Could executive Bill Polian come out of retirement to join the Bears? The Hall of Famer is telling people close to him at ESPN that it’s not in the cards, as Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune writes. 
[RELATED: Bears Audition CFL Stars]
“It’s absolutely wrong,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter told WMVP-AM 1000. “He laughed at the idea of it and was trying to figure out the genesis of it because he’s had absolutely no contact with anybody there. There is no job … and he was befuddled how he could be connected to the job.”
In the midst of a 3-10 season, there are big changes coming in Chicago. Whether those changes include a front office shakeup remains to be seen, but if Polian is to be believed, he will not a part of that turnover. Polian, 74, is a longtime friend of the team’s owners, but two of his television colleagues have been told that there have been no conversations between him and the organization regarding a job. Furthermore, the “senior advisory role” that he has been connected to does not currently exist in the organization.
Polian has worked as the general manager of three teams: the Bills, the Panthers, and most recently, the Colts. For now, it sounds like he is content with his second career in broadcasting.
Bears Audition CFL Stars
- The Bears worked out fullback Malcolm Johnson (link). He was drafted in the sixth-round of the 2015 draft by Cleveland.
- The Bears also auditioned six other players, according to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune. Of those six, five of them were wide receivers and five of them played this past season in the CFL. The group was headlined by Derel Walker, the CFL’s most outstanding rookie in 2015 and a two-time All-Star. The 25-year-old finished second in the CFL this season with 1,589 yards. The group also included CFL standout wide receivers like Greg Ellingson, Kenny Shaw, and Diontae Spencer. Guard Derek Dennis, who spent this past season with the Calgary Stampeders, showed his stuff, as well as indoor league receiver Orlandus Harris. As Biggs notes, the Bears haven’t had a lot of success with CFL imports in recent years.
Bears Put Adams On IR, Claim McCants
Mike Adams served as a swing tackle during his first season in Chicago, but that campaign will end early after the Bears placed the edge blocker on IR, Brad Biggs reports (on Twitter).
To replace him on the 53-man roster, the Bears claimed tackle Matt McCants off waivers from the Browns.
The Bears initially signed Adams, a former Steelers second-round pick whom Pittsburgh cut this offseason, in August and used him in 11 games. He made one start, which was the 21st of his five-year career.
Adams was playing on a one-year deal for just $760K this season. He missed all of the ’15 season with a back injury. It’s again a back injury that will shelve the 26-year-old Adams to close this year as well, which could again limit teams’ interest come free agency.
McCants will now serve as a backup to Charles Leno and Bobby Massie. The Browns waived him Saturday to officially bring Robert Griffin III back on the active roster. A Raider for three years who took a pay cut from 1.67MM to $675K in September but still was waived off Oakland’s roster later this season. The 27-year-old lineman played in two games for the Raiders this season but did not appear in one with the Browns.
2017 NFL Draft Order Through Most Of Week 14
The final month of the regular season will dictate the playoff futures for teams like the Cowboys, Patriots, Chiefs, and Raiders. For other teams, the postseason is a statistical impossibility. Already, the Jets, Jaguars, Browns, Rams, Bears, and 49ers have been mathematically eliminated. The Chargers, Saints, Panthers, Eagles, Bengals, and Cardinals are not technically out of it, but their chances are remote.
Here’s where those teams and the others not currently ticketed for the playoffs stand in the draft order (Note – Ties are broken by strength of schedule):
- Browns 0-13
- 49ers 1-12
- Jaguars 2-11
- Bears 3-10
- Rams 4-9 (pick belongs to Titans)
- Jets 4-9
- Panthers 5-8
- Chargers 5-8
- Saints 5-8
- Eagles (pick belongs to Browns) 5-8
- Cardinals 5-7-1
- Bengals 5-7-1
- Bills 6-7
- Colts 6-7
- Titans 7-6
- Vikings (pick belongs to Eagles) 7-6
- Packers 7-6
- Redskins 7-5-1
- Ravens 7-5 (Note – The Ravens play their Week 14 game tonight against the Patriots.)
- Dolphins 8-5
Strength of schedule via SB Nation.