The Chicago Bears are making a few roster changes at the cornerback position coming off their demoralizing 27-24 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 1.
According to the team’s official transaction wire, the Bears released veteran cornerback Tre Flowers from their practice squad and signed fourth-year cornerback Dallis Flowers to take his place in a pair of roster moves that they announced on Tuesday afternoon.
Tre Flowers, a seven-season NFL veteran, signed with the Bears early in training camp with the intention to compete for a depth role in their cornerback rotation, but he failed to make their initial 53-man roster after a rough performance in their preseason finale.
Nevertheless, the Bears re-signed him to their practice squad after roster cuts, though it is worth noting they did not promote him to their game-day roster against the Vikings, even with starters Jaylon Johnson (groin) and Kyler Gordon (hamstring) unavailable.
The Bears will now move forward with Dallis Flowers — no known relation to Tre — as one of their two practice-squad cornerbacks. They also have undrafted rookie Dontae Manning in the mix, giving them options if they need backup for Week 2’s game.
The Bears (0-1) will take on the Detroit Lions (0-1) at Ford Field at 1 p.m. ET Sunday.
Dallis Flowers Led the NFL in Kick Return Yards in 2022
Flowers is a relatively minor practice-squad signing for the Bears, but he could provide them with another option in the return game after thriving in that role in Indianapolis.
In 2022, Flowers signed with the Colts as an undrafted rookie free agent out of Division II Pittsburgh State and beat the odds to make their initial 53-man roster coming out of training camp. He went on to play 174 defensive snaps and 143 special teams snaps in 13 games for the Colts, making his first career start in their Week 18 season finale.
Most impressive, though, was Flowers’ ability as a kick returner. He averaged an NFL-high 31.1 yards on 23 kick returns for the Colts in 2022, finishing with the fourth-most kick return yards (715) in the league and taking three of his returns 40 yards or more.
Flowers only returned two more kicks for the Colts over the next two seasons (49 net return yards), but that was partially because he started the 2023 season as one of the Colts’ starting cornerbacks before a season-ending injury knocked him off course.
The Bears have a two-time All-Pro kick returner in wide receiver Devin Duvernay, who averaged 27.0 return yards on three returns in Week 1’s loss. Second-round rookie wide receiver Luther Burden III also showed off his return ability against the Vikings, taking his lone return 44 yards upfield in a time-expiring effort at the end of the first half.
Even still, Flowers’ dual value makes him an intriguing signing for the Bears, especially if they continue to deal with injuries in the cornerback room in the weeks ahead.
Will Bears Have Healthier CB Room Against Lions?
The Bears had to play with a patchwork cornerback room in their season opener after ruling out Johnson and Gordon roughly 90 minutes before kickoff last Monday night.
In both cases, the Bears are stuck in wait-and-see mode. Johnson returned to practice last week in a limited capacity after missing more than a month with a groin injury, but the coaching staff did not feel comfortable enough with his progress to make him active.
The same thing happened with Gordon, whom the Bears made a late addition to their injury report on Sunday with a hamstring injury that emerged earlier in the week.
“Kyler, over the course of last week, started to feel some tightness,” Johnson said Tuesday. “We came in on Sunday, I believe, and talked to our trainers about it for the first time, so we put him on the injury report and felt like he wasn’t quite ready to go.”
The question now is whether Johnson and Gordon will return for the Bears in a short week of preparation for Sunday’s game against the Lions. While Nahshon Wright did a nice job as Johnson’s replacement on the perimeter, snagging his first career pick-six, the Bears will face a tougher crew of pass-catchers in Week 2 and will want their best.
The Bears will release their first injury report against the Lions on Wednesday, which should provide the first clues about Johnson’s and Gordon’s game-day statuses.
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