Bears place Eddy Piñeiro on injured reserve, sign Mario Edwards Jr.

Earlier today the Chicago Bears announced that they were placing kicker Eddy Piñeiro on injured reserve, and in a corresponding roster move they announced the signing of defensive end Mario Edwards Jr., which was first reported on September 6.

Piñeiro has battled a groin injury all offseason and he wasn’t able to kick at all during training camp. Chicago brought in kicker Cairo Santos in case Eddy wasn’t able to recover in time for the regular season, and Santos landed on the practice squad. At some point before Sunday’s opening game against the Detroit Lions the Bears will need to promote him, but keep in mind that teams can now carry 55 men on their weekly active roster so a corresponding move may not be made.

This year’s new injured reserve rule allows players to spend as little as three weeks on IR before being activated to the main roster, which means that Piñeiro could be eligible to be back for their week four game against the Colts.

Edwards will be entering his sixth professional season (on his fourth team) since being a 2nd-round pick of the Raiders in the 2015 NFL Draft. He had 3 sacks as a reserve last year with the Saints while playing in 28% of their snaps on defense. The 6’3”, 280 pounder will wear number 97 for the Bears.