TAMPA — Bears running back D’Onta Foreman is inactive for Sunday’s game against the Buccaneers, while, as expected, wide receiver Chase Claypool — whose effort was questioned after a series of Week 1 blocking mistakes — is active.
Guard Nate Davis, who has a death in the family, was ruled out Sunday morning after not making the trip Saturday.
Other Bears inactives include receiver Equanimeous St. Brown, defensive lineman Khalid Kareem and third-string quarterback Tyson Bagent. Cornerback Josh Blackwell was ruled out Saturday.
Receiver/returner Velus Jones is active for the first time this year.
On the Bears’ official pregame show on ESPN 1000, general manager Ryan Poles said Claypool needed to be better.
“For anyone on our there’s a standard of how we’re gonna play football here,” he said. “If you can’t rise to that standard and live in that space, it’s going to be hard to perform for the Chicago Bears. With Chase, I think he’s a guy that has all the motivation in the world to be a good football player. He’s gotta clean some things up. We had some good conversations. I expect to see him make those changes. If he doesn’t then we’ll have to figure out what we’re gonna do after that.”
The Bears gave Foreman a one-year, $2 million contract in March after running back David Montgomery left for the Lions. Foreman shined once the Panthers traded Christian McCaffrey last season, finishing fifth in the NFL in rushing yards the last 10 games of the season.
During the preseason, though, Foreman was simply the second-stringer. Rookie Roschon Johnson had as many carries as Foreman in Week 1 and four more catches, though much of that work was done during garbage time in the fourth quarter.
Travis Homer, the team’s other active running back, is valuable as a special teamer. He played 68% of the Bears’ special teams downs in Week 1, while Foreman played none.
