Bears sign OLB Josh Shirley to the active roster

The Chicago Bears made a minor roster move today, by signing outside linebacker Josh Shirley from their practice squad.

Shirley’s promotion could mean that one, or maybe more, of the injured Bear outside linebackers are going to miss Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings. On yesterday’s injury report, Chicago listed OLBs Leonard Floyd (concussion) as doubtful and Pernell McPhee (shoulder) and Willie Young (knee) as questionable.

With this being the final game of the 2016 season, it makes sense for the Bears to be cautious with their injured players, so I would be surprised to see the promising rookie Floyd risk further injury. McPhee and Young, both under contract for next year, could also be held out for precautionary reasons.

Shirley, originally an undrafted free agent by the Oakland Raiders in 2015, played three years for the University of Washington before transferring to UNLV for his senior season. He ended his collegiate career with 29.5 tackles for loss and 20 sacks.

The 6’1”, 235 pound Shirley ran a 4.59 forty at his 2015 pro day, he also benched 225lbs 24 times, with a 38.5 vertical.

The Bears included this in their press release today.

Shirley has appeared in five games, notching two tackles and one tackle for a loss in two seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2015) and Seattle Seahawks (2016). He has also spent time on the practice squads of the Oakland Raiders (2015), Buccaneers (2015) and Bears (2016).

Anyone expecting a surprising big day from the young hopeful on Sunday?