The Chicago Bears are calling upon a former Green Bay Packers draft pick to reinforce their defensive interior against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 4.
According to the team’s transaction wire, the Bears elevated former Packers defensive tackle Jonathan Ford from the practice squad to the game-day roster on Saturday in a series of roster moves ahead of Sunday’s road game with the Raiders.
The Bears signed Ford — a 2022 seventh-round pick — off the Packers’ practice squad in early December last season and gave him a healthy amount of defensive snaps in their final four games of the 2024 regular season. He tallied nine tackles and one tackle for loss across 77 total defensive snaps, earning him an opportunity to return in 2025.
Ford will likely find himself at the back end of the rotation against the Raiders, which could mean a special teams-only role, but the Bears needed to reinforce the defensive tackle position with veteran Grady Jarrett (knee) ruled out in the final injury report.
The Bears also elevated veteran tight end Stephen Carlson and signed linebacker Carl Jones Jr. from the practice squad to the 53-man roster in a more permanent move.
The Bears (1-2) will kick off against the Raiders (1-2) at 4:25 p.m. ET today.
Grady Jarrett Off to Slow Start With Bears in 2025
Jarrett, a two-time Pro Bowler who joined the team in free agency, has not gotten off to the greatest of starts for the Bears over his first three games of the 2025 regular season.
In his first three games with the Bears, Jarrett has notched four tackles, three pressures and three quarterback hits while recording zero sacks or tackles for loss. Pro Football Focus has also dragged him as one of the team’s bottom-five defensive performers in two of his first three games, awarding him an unimpressive 55.7 overall grade (104th).
The Bears didn’t wait long to pounce on Jarrett in free agency. Two days after Atlanta released him for salary-cap and performance reasons, the Bears inked the 32-year-old to a questionable three-year, $42.75 million contract aimed at improving the interior.
The signing came with some risk. Jarrett had a down season for the Falcons in 2024, tallying just 2.5 sacks and nine tackles for loss despite playing every game. He had also torn his ACL in the eighth game of the 2023 season and missed the final nine games.
While Jarrett has plenty of season left to rally for the Bears, his knee injury — which kept him out of practice this week — won’t make things any easier on the veteran.
Bears Have 3 Game-Day Injury Decisions to Make
The Bears ruled out Jarrett (knee), linebacker T.J. Edwards (hamstring) and right tackle Darnell Wright (elbow) in their final injury report for Sunday’s game, but they also have a few more injury decisions to make before kickoff against the Raiders.
Cornerback Kyler Gordon (hamstring), running back D’Andre Swift (hip) and first-round rookie tight end Colston Loveland (hip) are all questionable to play this week, with Gordon looking to make his season debut after missing the first three games.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Swift is expected to play for the Bears, but Loveland is a “long shot” and will need a pregame workout to determine if the team will sit him against the Raiders. In all likelihood, the Bears will play it safe with their prized rookie with next week’s bye on the horizon, offering them downtime to rest and heal.
The Bears will expectedly release their inactives list roughly 90 minutes before kickoff.
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