Bears Promote Artavis Pierce, Sign Two More Players
Artavis Pierce is going to be part of the the formula for addressing the loss of running back Tarik Cohen.
The Bears on Tuesday promoted their undrafted rookie running back from Oregon State to the 53-man roster from the practice squad and made a few corresponding practice squad signings, while officially placing Cohen on injured reserve.
Pierce had been a teammate of Ryan Nall's at Oregon State and signed with the Bears this spring. At training camp he had given a decent display of quickness and pass receiving ability and it's possible the Bears see him as being of use on third downs or in passing situations.
After Cohen suffered a torn ACL Sunday, they'll likely give more touches to David Montgomery and Cordarrelle Patterson before anyone, though. Montgomery hasn't had more than 16 carries in a game yet this season.
"Obviously, David’s had a good start to his season, and I expect him just to continue to get better and better each week," running back coach Charles London said. "Cordarrelle’s given us a lot at the running back position. He gets better and better each week as he gets more and more comfortable with his spot, with what we’ve been asking him to do.
"So, have no concerns there, and then you know, I think you’ll probably see a little more Ryan Nall out there. Ryan’s a pretty versatile player, he’s done a lot for us. He does a lot on offense, a lot on special teams, so I expect him to contribute more as well. It will be a collaborative effort."
The Bears also added two players to their practice squad who they gave tryouts to on Monday, edge linebacker Sharif Finch and defensive end Terry Beckner.
Becker is a 6-foot-4, 295-pound defensive end from Missouri who had been a seventh-round draft pick from Tampa Bay in 2019. He spent the first 2 1/2 months on the Buccaneers' practice squad and was then cut.
Finch is a 6-foot-4, 250-pound pass rusher who was an undrafted free agent and signed with the Titans. He played in 23 games including three starts and made 40 total tackles and 3 1/2 sacks.
The Titans cut Finch after he'd had some injuries but he's now healthy.
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