The Bears’ crowded receiver room got a little less so the team waived undrafted rookie Emanuel Hall on Tuesday.
When the Bears signed the Missouri speedster immediately after the draft, they thought they’d found a worthy lottery ticket. He had sports hernia surgery shortly after rookie minicamp.
Hall was an intermittent practice participant, though, as the Bears sought to ease him back off the surgery. He did not play in Thursday’s preseason opener.
Head coach Matt Nagy said there was no specific reason for the timing of the move, other than considerable depth at the position.
“It’s just a lot of times it comes down to numbers,” he said.
Hall was known as a deep threat in college. In his last two years at Missouri, he caught 70 balls for 1,645 yards.
The Bears, who could keep as many as seven receivers, like their depth at the position. Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel, Anthony Miller and Cordarrelle Patterson are locks to make the team, while Javon Wims and fourth-round pick Riley Ridley seem likely.