The Bears on Saturday promoted five players from their practice squad to their active roster: return specialist Dwayne Harris, quarterback Tyler Bray, offensive linemen Dieter Eiselen and Badara Traore and defensive lineman Daniel McCullers.
Harris was signed to the practice squad Oct. 27 and was moved to the active roster Oct. 31. He made his Bears debut in last Sunday's overtime loss to the Saints, averaging 5.7 yards on three punt returns with a long of 12 yards. Harris is expected to continue in that role in place of Ted Ginn Jr., who was released Wednesday.
Harris is in his 10th NFL season. He joined the Bears after appearing in 106 games with 11 starts for the Cowboys (2011-14), Giants (2015-17) and Raiders (2018-19), averaging 10.1 yards on 180 punt returns with four touchdowns.
"I thought that Dwayne came in and did a nice job," said special-teams coordinator Chris Tabor. "I'm glad he's here. He's obviously a proven veteran and I have a lot of confidence in him."
With Mitchell Trubisky ruled out of Sunday's game due to a right shoulder injury he sustained against the Saints, Bray will serve as the No. 2 quarterback behind starter Nick Foles. Since joining the Bears in 2018, Bray has split time between the active roster and practice squad but has not appeared in a regular-season game.
Prior to joining the Bears, Bray spent his first five NFL seasons as a backup with the Chiefs, where he worked with Bears coach Matt Nagy. Bray has appeared in one NFL regular-season game, failing to complete his only pass attempt in Kansas City's 2017 season finale. He spent the 2015 and 2016 seasons on injured reserve.
Bray entered the NFL with the Chiefs in 2013 as an undrafted free agent from Tennessee, where he passed for 7,444 yards and 69 touchdowns in three seasons. One of his top receivers with the Volunteers was current Bears teammate Cordarrelle Patterson.
Undrafted rookies Eiselen and Traore were added to the roster to provide depth on a depleted offensive line. The Bears will play Sunday without three starters (James Daniels, Cody Whitehair and Bobby Massie) and two reserves (Sam Mustipher and Jason Spriggs) due to injuries.
Eiselen, who grew up in South Africa playing rugby, made 34 starts over four seasons at Yale. Traore played in 26 games with five starts the past two seasons at LSU after transferring from ASA College in Brooklyn, N.Y.
McCullers will help fill the void caused by the absence of injured defensive linemen Roy Robertson-Harris and John Jenkins, both of whom got hurt against the Saints. McCullers is a seven-year NFL veteran who appeared in 73 games with three starts for the Steelers from 2014-19, registering 41 tackles, 2.5 sacks and 4.0 tackles-for-loss.
Harris was signed to the active roster. Bray and McCullers are COVID-19 replacements. And Eiselen and Traore were elevated as part of a provision in the new CBA that enables NFL teams to promote two players from their practice squad without releasing anyone before each game, effectively increasing their active roster from 53 to 55.
