Bears Place Trey Burton on IR; lose Kerrith Whyte to Steelers

Trey Burton is going onto Injured Reserve with a calf injury after being plagued by injury throughout his season.

The flight to Los Angeles had a few empty seats for the Bears

Tight end Trey Burton was placed on injured reserve Saturday with a calf injury, after a season in which he struggled with health from the outset.

In addition to Burton, tight end Adam Shaheen, outside linebacker Isaiah Irving and linebacker Danny Trevathan did not make the trip to Los Angeles with the team for the game against the Rams. Trevathan has an elbow injury, Shaheen foot soreness and Irving a quad injury. All had already been ruled out for Sunday's game.

Linebacker James Vaughters has been activated f

Burton's 2018 season was solid with 54 catches for 569 yards and six touchdowns, but then he missed the playoff game due to a surprise groin injury. After Burton missed offseason work due to sports hernia surgery, he struggled to get back into playing shape in training camp and preseason.

Just days before the regular season began, general manager Ryan Pace said Burton suffered another groin injury and he managed to get through eight games this season with 14 catches for 84 yards. Burton then suffered a calf injury against Detroit last week.

In the 2018 offseason, Burton signed a four-year, $32 million contract to leave the Eagles as a free agent, which included a $7 million signing bonus and $22 million guaranteed.

Without Burton and Shaheen for the Rams game, the Bears are without their top two tight ends and must rely on Ben Braunecker, J.P. Holtz and possible converted tackle Bradley Sowell.

Coach Matt Nagy on Friday expressed optimism Sowell could contribute in his first action since Week 2. He caught a touchdown pass last year against the Rams but was a tackle then.

"We knew there was going to be a little bit of a transition," Nagy said. "That's hard going from tackle, having your hand in the ground every play, to now possibly running some routes. He's done well with that.

"We'll kind of see where he's at. Certainly a possibility with him. He's one of those guys that you just really appreciate."

They haven't announced the promotion of rookie Jesper Horsted from the practice squad, although that would be a possibility in the future.

Whyte Signed by Steelers

The Bears also found out Saturday they had lost practice squad running back Kerrith Whyte Jr. to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Players on practice squads are not bound to their team. They are waived free agents players who can by signed by any team as long as the signing team assigns the player to their 53-man roster, as the Steelers did with Whyte. The Steelers also signed Colts practice squad receiver Deon Cain on Saturday.

Pittsburgh's running back depth has been tested recently. Rookie Benny Snell is out this week with a knee injury and starter James Conner has been battling through an AC joint injury since the end of October.

The Bears last week waived running back Mike Davis, so if they are to go to a back other than David Montgomery it's either going to be Tarik Cohen, receiver Cordarrelle Patterson or Ryan Nall. Nall was activated from the practice squad last week and played in last week's win on special teams.

Whyte was a seventh-round draft pick whose speed impressed coach Matt Nagy immediately in offseason work, and he was initially on the 53-man roster as the Bears sought to prevent other teams from signing him.

However, Whyte wound up back on the practice squad when the Bears needed to bring up players at other positions.

Last year's rookie class hasn't made any sort of impact, beyond Montgomery, their top pick overall as a third-rounder.

Their fourth-round pick was wide receiver Riley Ridley and he hasn't been active for a game. Sixth-round pick Duke Shelley has been on the field for six regular-season defensive plays and 25 special teams plays, but hasn't been active for a game since Week 4. The other seventh-rounder was practice squad defensive back Stephen Denmark.

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