The Chicago Bears are in the midst of trying to shape their roster for Sunday’s game against the San Francisco 49ers, and on Friday afternoon, they made a couple of moves to make room for several anticipated promotions:
League sources: #Bears waive QB David Fales and cut FB Tony Fiammetta and DB Kelvin Hayden. — Adam Jahns (@adamjahns) September 12, 2014
Fales, who made the team out of training camp after being drafted by the Bears in the sixth round of May’s NFL Draft, suffered a shoulder injury and wasn’t active for the Bears in Week 1, and hadn’t practiced with the team during the regular season. Fiammetta also wasn’t participating in practices with a hamstring injury, and he too wasn’t active in Week 1 of the season.
Hayden, who was a back-up cornerback on the team, played in the 2012 season with the Bears, but missed the entire 2013 campaign. He too wasn’t active in the Bears’ Week 1 loss against the Buffalo Bills.
As for who could come up to replace these three players, the Bears are expected to sign center Taylor Boggs and wide receiver Josh Bellamy off the practice squad. The team’s offensive line has been decimated by injuries, with Roberto Garza and Matt Slauson both ruled out for Sunday’s game. Brian de la Puente will start at center, and Michael Ola will start at left guard, but adding Boggs to the mix will give some cover both to the starters and to back-ups Eben Britton (assuming he’s active) and Charles Leno Jr.
As for Bellamy, his presence will be needed if the Bears are without either Josh Morgan, who was listed as doubtful for Sunday’s game, or Alshon Jeffery, who is questionable but did practice in limited fashion with the team on Friday. Brandon Marshall is also dealing with an ankle injury, but he is expected to play against the 49’ers.
