The Bears apparently feel a good chance exists Justin Fields will not progress enough from an ankle injury to be a backup quarterback against Seattle.
They have flexed practice squad quarterback Ryan Willis to the 53-man roster, and coach Matt Nagy on Friday said they would turn to Willis to back up Nick Foles if Fields' injured ankle doesn't come around.
Along with Willis, the Bears flexed outside linebacker Ledarius Mack, wide receiver Dazz Newsome, cornerback Dee Virgin and wide receiver Nsimba Webster.
They also reinstated first-string slot cornerback Duke Shelley from injured reserve. Shelley had been out with a hamstring injury and then on the reserve/COVID-19 list since the Nov. 21 loss to Baltimore.
Willis threw for 3,622 yards on 285 of 481 with 33 touchdowns and 14 interceptions at Virginia Tech in 2018 and 2019, after he'd been 236 of 432 for 2,530 yards with 11 TDs and 17 interceptions at Kansas as a freshman and sophomore.
Willis went into The Spring League after being out of the game for 2020. He helped the Linemen win the Megabowl, the title game for The Spring League.
The Bears got Willis a limited amount of snaps at practice this week, according to coach Matt Nagy, who called it a "game-time decision" on whether Fields or Willis will be backup.
There are still nine Bears on the reserve/COVID-19 list including four starters.
Bears Reserve/COVID-19
- DE Akiem Hicks*
- WR Allen Robinson*
- CB Jaylon Johnson
- S Tashaun Gipson*
- TE Jesse James
- TE Jesper Horsted
- RB Ryan Nall
- LB Joel Iyiegbuniwe
- WR Isaiah Coulter**
*Starter
**Practice Squad
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