With no game this weekend, the Bears will practice Tuesday and Wednesday without pads before being off Thursday through Sunday.
That's in keeping with the NFL's collective bargaining agreement, which requires that players have at least four consecutive days off during bye weeks.
| Head coach John Fox at practice. |
Asked what he hopes to accomplish this week, coach John Fox said: "It's a bunch of different things, but I think it's getting guys healthy, getting them rested. It comes at a time when we could use the rest to get some guys healed up."
Players who sat out Sunday's overtime loss to the Lions and no doubt will benefit from another week off include left tackle Jermon Bushrod, linebacker Shea McClellin, safety Antrel Rolle and cornerback Terrance Mitchell.
The Bears will also study themselves during the bye week, with the hopes of improving key areas when they return to action Nov. 1 against the Vikings.
"We need to get better at football," said right tackle Kyle Long. "There's nobody that we're preparing for necessarily. But we can self-scout and we can figure out where we're struggling in terms of technique and assignment. We can really pound on those things. We took an opportunity [Tuesday] in individual [drills] as an offensive line to do some things that maybe we need some shoring up on. Having those reps is extremely valuable."
Good start: Starting his first NFL game Sunday in Detroit, linebacker Jonathan Anderson recorded four tackles, his first career interception, one quarterback pressure and two pass breakups.
Anderson was also involved in the game's most controversial play when he was initially credited with an interception late in the first half before referee Walt Coleman reversed the call to a Lions touchdown.
Anderson signed with the Bears in May as an undrafted rookie from TCU. He spent the first five weeks of the season on the practice squad before being elevated to the 53-man roster last Wednesday.
"I thought it was pretty good," Fox said of Anderson's debut performance. "He's a guy we called up and he's got a skill set. He's proven to us on the practice field that he deserved that opportunity, and I think for a first outing it wasn't too bad."
Roster move: The Bears on Monday promoted cornerback Bryce Callahan from the practice squad to the active roster and waived safety Demontre Hurst.
Callahan signed with the Bears in May as an undrafted rookie from Rice. He played in the first two games of the season before spending the last four weeks on the practice squad.
Hurst has appeared in 18 games with two starts the past two seasons with the Bears, recording 36 tackles, one interception, one forced fumble and nine special-teams stops. He spent his entire rookie season on the practice squad in 2013 after joining the Bears as an undrafted rookie from Oklahoma.
That hurts: Lions rookie running back Zach Zenner was placed on injured reserve Monday after he sustained four broken ribs and a partially collapsed lung in Sunday's game.
An undrafted free agent from South Dakota State, Zenner was injured early in the second quarter when he was hit by Bears rookie safety Adrian Amos after a 7-yard run.
