The Bears put starting left guard James Daniels on injured reserve, six days after he hurt his pec injury in the second half against the Buccaneers. He figures to miss the rest of the season.
To take his place on the roster, the team promoted Sam Mustipher, a second-year player from Notre Dame, from the practice squad. The 6-2, 311-pound interior offensive lineman spent all last season on the practice squad, too. He joined the Bears alongside former Fighting Irish teammate Alex Bars as an undrafted free agent in 2019.
Bars appears to be in line to take Daniels’ snaps. He was the one who replaced Daniels against the Buccaneers. The only other serious candidate to play left guard is converted defensive lineman Rashaad Coward. Coward took Kyle Long’s place at right guard last year and has remained there this season. During summer camp, the Bears never had him challenge starter Germain Ifedi, whom they’d signed away from the Seahawks.
The Bears gave receiver Ted Ginn, inside linebacker Danny Trevathan, tight end Jimmy Graham and defensive end Akiem Hicks veteran days off Wednesday.
Safety Deon Bush did not practice because of the hamstring injury he suffered against the Colts. Safety Sherrick McManis returned to the field but was limited because of a hamstring injury, while defensive tackle Brent Urban was limited with a knee problem.
Nose tackle John Jenkins, whom the Bears placed on injured reserve Sept. 24 with a thumb injury, practiced Wednesday. The Bears have three weeks to activate him for games.
The Bears protected kicker Kai Forbath from practice-squad poaching, as they did Tuesday with third-string quarterback Tyler Bray.
