The Chicago Bears had 13 players on the COVID-19/reserve list as of Friday, December 17, and as a result, the team is taking a look at some available free agents heading into its Week 15 Monday night matchup against the Minnesota Vikings.
With tight end Jesse James and practice squad running back Ryan Nall both on the COVID-19/reserve list, the Bears brought two running backs, Pete Guerriero and Bo Scarbrough, along with two tight ends, Cole Hikutini and Joshua Perkins, in for tryouts this week, per the NFL’s waiver wire.
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A Look at the RBs the Bears Brought In
Scarbrough played three seasons at Alabama with the Crimson Tide before declaring for the draft in 2018. He played in 31 games at Alabama, and he rushed for 1,512 yards and 20 TDs on 267 carries (that’s 5.7 yards per carry). A seventh-round pick for the Dallas Cowboys in 2018, he bounced around as a rookie, spending time on the practice squads of the Cowboys, Jacksonville Jaguars and Seattle Seahawks.
He signed on in Detroit with the Lions in 2019, and he wound up playing in six games, starting five. He had 89 carries for 377 yards (4.2 ypc.) and a score that year and actually played against the Bears on Thanksgiving of 2019, gaining 83 yards on 21 carries. He wound up getting overtaken on the depth chart by running backs D’Andre Swift and Jason Huntley, and was waived in October of 2020.
He landed back with the Seahawks that same season after Seattle signed him to its practice squad, and he wound up playing in one regular season game, carrying the ball six times for 36 yards (5.17 ypc.). He suffered a torn hamstring in that contest, and he hasn’t played in an NFL game since.
The 5-foot-9, 196-pound Guerriero is a speedster who spent his 2020 season on the practice squads of the Carolina Panthers and New York Jets, re-signing a future contract with the Jets before ultimately being released in May of 2021. He had a cup of coffee with the Pittsburgh Steelers in August 2021, but has never played in a NFL game.
Guerriero played his college ball at Monmouth, and was named FCS Running Back of the Year and a first-team All-American in 2019, rushing for 1,995 yards and 20 touchdowns. In three years at Monmouth, he ran for 3,974 yards and had 39 total TDs.
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A Look at the TEs Chicago Brought In
Hikutini played ball at small schools in college (Sacramento State, City College of San Francisco) before transferring to Louisville, where he played with Lamar Jackson. The 6-4, 247-pound tight end caught 69 passes for 1,016 yards and 11 TDs in his two seasons with the Cardinals.
He went undrafted, spending his rookie season with the San Francisco 49ers. He made the practice squad before getting elevated to the active roster for four games, catching two passes for 15 yards.
He spent the 2018 season on the Vikings’ practice squad, and he has bounced around a bit since, landing in Dallas in 2019 and with the New York Giants this season, playing on both practice squads.
The 6-foot-4, 227-pound Perkins played for Washington in college, catching 66 passes for 911 yards and nine scores. He went undrafted in 2016 and landed with the Atlanta Falcons, where he made the 53-man roster.
He wound up playing in eight games, catching three passes for 42 yards and a TD. He spent the 2017 season on Atlanta’s PS and signed on with the Philadelphia Eagles for his 2018-19 seasons. He played in 14 games for the Eagles in that span, starting one, and he caught 14 passes for 154 yards and a score. He spent the following season on injured reserve with an upper body injury, and hasn’t played in a game since.
It’ll be interesting to see if the Bears bring any of them on heading into Week 15.
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Bears Bring 4 in for Tryouts, Including Ex-Rival RB