Chicago Bears place TE Zach Miller on injured reserve
The Chicago Bears waived injured tight end Zach Miller on Friday, but hope to stash him on the injured reserve if he clears waivers.
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Miller opened some eyes and turned some heads with his stellar play in the Bears preseason opener last week against the Philadelphia Eagles with two touchdown receptions in place of the suspended Martellus Bennett. The foot injury occurred in the second quarter in the team’s win over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Thursday evening.
The Bears hope Miller will clear waivers, and he likely will as he is an unrestricted free agent after this season, so they can put him on the injured reserve and keep him in their future plans.
Update:
#Bears now saying that Zach Miller is going to straight to injured reserve as a vested veteran.
— Adam Jahns (@adamjahns) August 15, 2014
No word on the extent of the injury at this time, but it coudl be possible that the Bears place him on injured reserve with the designation to return in the second half of the season.
Miller was out of football last year and was a training camp revelation and was expected to provide at the minimum important depth at the position. After the preseason debut last week, the expectations began to rise that Miller could bring some added versatility to the offense of Marc Trestman and allow them to line up Bennett in different positions.
Dante Rosario is the top backup to Bennett now as the Bears could explore the free agent market for another body at tight end with two more weeks of the preseason before the season opener.