The Chicago Bears are signing another former Green Bay Packers pass rusher to their ranks after losing one of their top rookies to a season-ending ACL injury.
According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Bears are signing former Packers defensive end and seventh-round pick Jonathan Garvin to their practice squad on Tuesday, giving them more pass-rushing depth to consider elevating to the roster.
Garvin tallied 32 total tackles, 1.5 sacks, one tackle for loss and seven quarterback hits across his 38 career games and 673 career defensive snaps for the Packers. The 2020 seventh-round pick has also produced at the UFL level, recording another 29 tackles, 5.5 sacks and two forced fumbles this past campaign for the Birmingham Stallions.
The Bears sustained a few hits to their defensive end group during Week 8’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens, losing second-round rookie Shemar Turner — who converted from defensive tackle to defensive end — to a season-ending ACL tear in the second quarter.
Chicago also lost rotational pass rusher and former fifth-round selection Dominique Robinson to a high-ankle sprain and won’t have him available for at least a few weeks.
The Bears (4-3) will next play the Cincinnati Bengals (3-5) at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday.
Bears Expected to Activate Austin Booker on Tuesday
While Garvin’s signing is noteworthy, the Bears are expected to make a more impactful roster move on Tuesday when they activate Austin Booker from the injured reserve list.
Booker — a 2024 fifth-round pick — had seemed likely to begin the 2025 season as the Bears’ top rotational pass rusher behind starters Montez Sweat and Dayo Odeyingbo before suffering a knee injury in the team’s second preseason game. Before his injury, he had led all NFL defenders with four sacks in less than two full exhibition games.
Booker reached the end of his 21-day practice window on Tuesday, meaning the Bears must either activate him to the 53-man roster or leave him on IR for the rest of 2025. Bears head coach Ben Johnson said Monday, though, that they plan to activate him after he has been a full participant in every practice since his return on October 7.
The Bears have not yet announced any of the roster moves, including Garvin’s signing.
Bears Pass Rush Took Another Step Back vs. Ravens
The Bears did not have the cleanest pass-rushing effort against the Ravens in Week 8, even when putting aside the injuries that swiped two backups from their lineup.
According to Pro Football Focus, the Bears generated just six total pressures against Ravens backup quarterback Tyler Huntley despite Gervon Dexter Sr. and Sweat each tallying a sack for themselves. They also only hurried Huntley on two plays, allowing him to sit back and deliver a 17-of-22 passing clip with a touchdown and no turnover.
Once again, efficiency in one-on-one blocks plagued the Bears. According to ESPN Analytics, Chicago still owns the third-worst pass-rush win rate (31%) as a team in the league, sitting ahead of only the Carolina Panthers (30%) and Detroit Lions (26%).
Perhaps Garvin’s signing and Booker’s return can help the Bears reorganize their pass-rushing plan of attack and pull themselves out of the muck of mediocrity.
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