Bears Elevate Depth for Packers Game

The Bears officially ended Trevor Siemian's season by putting him on injured reserve Saturday while elevating their new backup, and padded their depth at trouble spots.

Coach Matt Eberflus said Friday that Siemian is having surgery to repair his oblique injury suffered in pregame warmups, so Nathan Peterman is now the backup and was brought up from the practice squad on Saturday.

Peterman's last appearance came in a Bears game—he was playing for the Raiders and had to make an appearance for Derek Carr in Week 5 last season when the Bears won 20-9 at Las Vegas. Peterman ran twice for 2 yards but didn't pass the ball. Peterman last threw a pass in an NFL game in the 2020 season when Atlanta blew out the Raiders 43-6 in Week 12.

He is 71 of 135 for 573 yards with three touchdowns, 12 interceptions and a career passer rating of 34.0 in 10 appearances.

The Bears signed Peterman to the 53-man roster because he'll remain there for now. They also elevated safety Adrian Colbert and cornerback Harrison Hand from the practice squad for Sunday's game with Green Bay.

Colbert just signed with the Bears this week and is a former 49ers, Dolphins, Giants, Gets and Browns safety who has started 22 times and played in 39 games over six seasons.

The 6-foot-2, 205-pounder was drafted in the seventh round in 2017 by San Francisco.

They need the extra help at safety after Eddie Jackson's season ended with a Lisfranc injury and Jaquan Brisker remained out this week with a concussion suffered Nov. 20.

They seem satisfied rookie Elijah Hicks and veteran DeAndre Houston-Carson can handle the safety spot until Brisker returns but needed backup help.

"Elijah had a good week of practice," Eberflus said. "It'll be him and DHC in there, of course, and we'll see how it goes. But the guys did a nice job throughout the week of practice, for sure."

Hand has been with the team for two weeks. The former Vikings cornerback has been in 23 games with one start after being selected by Minnesota in the fifth round in 2020.

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