The Bears active roster is once again down to 89 players.
BOURBONNAIS- The Bears have only been in training camp for a few days but the on-going theme seems to be with the defensive line. First there was the sudden retirement of Sedrick Ellis {the Bears got back the $285,00 signing bonus that was given to him in June}, followed by the signing of Jamaal Anderson {he was given the league minimum salary for 2013} and now the Bears have another situation on their hands.
Defensive end Turk McBride was put on injured reserve on Monday afternoon after rupturing his right achilles tendon during Monday morning’s practice. Although McBride is a seven-year veteran of the NFL, he did have an uphill climb ahead of him in trying to make the regular season roster. Before coming to the Bears, the 280-pound pass rusher played for Kansas City, Detroit and New Orleans but failed to catch on with either franchise.
His hope was that the Bears would finally give him the career breakout that he needed. McBride only has 9 1/2 career sacks, 125 career tackles and two career pass deflections. Now the 28-year-old will have to undergo surgery and rehab and hope for another chance in 2014. The Bears roster is back down to 89 players and it will most likely stay that way.
The Bears only have $1 million in cap space, plus the versatility of Jamaal Anderson to play both end and tackle most likely means that general manager Phil Emery will stick with the current group of players. Aside from Anderson and Julius Peppers, the Bears still have plenty of bodies at the position.
Shea McClellin and Corey Wootton are competing for the second starter spot opposite of Peppers. Rookie Cornelius Washington has shown some flashes of brilliance thus far and the rest of the pack is rounded out by Kyle Moore, Cheta Ozougwu and Aston Whiteside. The list will only get smaller from here as the Bears will most likely keep only four defensive ends on the 53-man roster in September.
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