As the Bears continued to gear up for Sunday's home game against the Dolphins, there were two positive developments Friday for the offensive line.
Left guard Cody Whitehair was activated off injured reserve after missing four games with a knee injury, and right tackle Larry Borom cleared concussion protocol and practiced in full after sitting out Wednesday and Thursday.
Whitehair returned to practice Wednesday for the first time since hurting his knee in a Week 4 loss to the Giants, starting a 21-day window to activate him off IR.
"His movement's good, his jumps were good," said coach Matt Eberflus. "The strength staff did a nice job of getting him ready to go, and he's looked good in practice."
Whitehair is the longest tenured member of the Bears offense, having started all 99 games he's played since arriving in 2016 as a second-round pick from Kansas State.
"It's great, I mean you have a guy that has that much experience," Eberflus said. "Cody is one of our captains, and he's one of our leaders and he certainly helps solidify that group for the offensive line, and we're welcome to have him back and hopefully things progress and he's back in the game here shortly."
Whitehair is happy to be healthy and doesn't anticipate needing to knock off any rust when he returns to game action.
"I feel great," he said. "It's Week 9 in the season. You're never going to feel 100 percent. But I feel good where I'm at. I'm excited to be back.
"I've played a lot of ball … getting back on the field and going back to work against a different opponent will be a little bit different, but I feel good where I'm at and I'm ready to work."
The Bears hit the Halas Hall practice fields Wednesday afternoon as they get ready for Sunday's matchup with the Miami Dolphins at Soldier Field.
Borom, meanwhile, practiced for the first time since playing in the Bears' Oct. 24 win in New England. He missed last Sunday's game in Dallas while recovering from his concussion but was cleared to return Friday.
Eberflus declined to reveal whether Borom would start at right tackle against the Dolphins. The second-year pro is listed as questionable on the injury report.
"He was out during the course of the week and he came back today and he was in a good spot today," Eberflus said, "so we'll see where it progresses from here."
Veteran Riley Reiff performed well in Borom's place versus the Cowboys.
"We thought he did a nice job," Eberflus said. "He is an aggressive guy. He played with good technique. We didn't have anything with his wind in terms of his stamina. The physical stamina was good. So we like where he was."
Safety Eddie Jackson (hip) and cornerback Kyler Gordon (hip) both practiced in full Friday after being limited Wednesday and Thursday and are questionable. Rookie guard Ja'Tyre Carter (illness) is also questionable after sitting out Friday.
The Dolphins, meanwhile, listed six players with injury designations: Receiver River Cracraft (illness) has been ruled out of Sunday's game; tackle Austin Jackson (ankle/calf) is doubtful; and tackle Terron Armstead (toe/Achilles), tight end Tanner Connor (knee), linebacker Jaelan Phillips (quad) and safety Eric Rowe (hip) are questionable.
