Getty New Bears cornerback Christian Matthew.
The Chicago Bears are swapping out one of their rookie safeties for a second-year cornerback amid a rough stretch of injuries to their secondary.
According to the team’s official transaction wire for October 4, the Bears signed former Arizona Cardinals seventh-round pick Christian Matthew to their practice squad on Wednesday and released undrafted rookie Macon Clark to free up a roster spot for him.
Matthew played just 237 total defensive snaps during his 2022 rookie season with the Cardinals and struggled in coverage when he was on the field (16 catches allowed on 24 targets), but he looked far more confident at the spot throughout his second offseason and ran with the starters for much of training camp. Still, the Cardinals were reluctant to use him on defense over their first four games and released him on October 2.
While Matthew might end up seeing less playing time in Chicago given his practice-squad status, there could be a window of opportunity for him to earn a game-day elevation in the coming weeks with three of the Bears’ top contributors — Kyler Gordon, Jaylon Johnson and Josh Blackwell — all currently missing time due to injuries.
As for Clark, he was one of the first 14 undrafted rookies the Bears signed to a contract following the 2023 NFL draft and spent the entire offseason and preseason programs with the team before missing the 53-man roster cut at the end of August. The Bears brought him back to their practice squad on September 14, but he was never elevated.
The Bears will have until 4 p.m. ET on October 5 to make any additional roster moves — such as game-day elevations or injured-reserve activations — for Week 5 leading up to their 8:15 p.m. ET kickoff at the Washington Commanders on Thursday Night Football.
Will Bears Activate Teven Jenkins Before Kickoff?
The Bears do not have too many weighty gameday decisions to make heading into their prime-time matchup with the Commanders, but one thing fans will be eager to keep an eye on as the roster-move deadline approaches is the status of left guard Teven Jenkins.
Jenkins sustained a pair of calf injuries, one in each leg, toward the end of training camp and began the season on injured reserve, requiring him to miss at least the first four games of the 2023 season. The Bears, however, designated him for return to practice at the start of Week 5 and saw him participate in three unpadded sessions throughout the week, giving him a shot at making his season debut on Thursday.
“We’ll see where he is tomorrow,” Bears head coach Matt Eberflus said during his October 4 press conference. “Obviously, when he’s in that situation, you’re gonna work him out. We’ll see where he is and then we’ll go from there.”
The Bears will still need to officially activate Jenkins before 4 p.m. ET if they plan on having him play against the Commanders.
Bears Could Elevate A.J. Thomas Against Washington
While Jenkins is one of the more important names to watch leading up to kickoff, the Bears will also need to make a decision on strong safety Jaquan Brisker‘s playing status against the Commanders after he was added to the injury report with a hamstring issue.
Brisker is currently listed as questionable to play on Thursday night, but it would be sensible for the Bears to grant a temporary game-day elevation to safety A.J. Thomas anyway just to make sure they are deep enough at the position. They are already going to be without free safety Eddie Jackson, and while they did sign veteran Duron Harmon to their 53-man roster earlier this week, a more familiar option might be preferred.
“We’ll decide that as we go, but both options [Thomas and Harmon] are there,” Eberflus said Wednesday. “Obviously, Harmon just got here, so we’ll see where it goes in terms of his mental prep, but we’ve been working on that the past few days.”
Thomas has already been elevated twice from the practice squad this season and is only eligible to be bumped up once more. If the Bears elevate him in Week 5, they would need to sign him to their active roster to get him on the field in future games this year.