The Bears elevated two defensive backs from their practice squad for depth purposes in the game at London against Jacksonville due to the injury wave hitting their secondary.
Safety Tarvarius Moore and cornerback Ameer Speed were moved up to the 53-man roster for the game through standard elevation. The Bears also announced defensive end Jake Martin will remain on injured reserve this week.
Speed is a 6-foot-3, 215-pound cornerback drafted in the fifth round last year by the New England Patriots and he played in five games for them before being released and claimed off waivers by the Indianapolis Colts. He got into eight games with the Colts.
Speed played almost exclusively on special teams. He was in for 12 defensive plays and 227 special teams. Speed, who played in college for Michigan State and Georgia, finished the 2023 season with nine tackles, including one for loss.
Former Southern Miss star Tarvarius Moore making plays! #SMTTT @tarvarius2 pic.twitter.com/3BWi8rRriN— USMVoice (@USMVoice) December 8, 2019
Moore, who played in 48 games with 13 starts for the 49ers, got into the Bears’ 24-18 win over the Rams two weeks ago.
Moore and Speed were needed for the game because starting cornerback Tyrique Stevenson is doubtful due to a calf injury, backup cornerback Terell Smith is out with a hip injury and starting safety Jaquan Brisker is out with a concussion.
Martin had his 21-day window opened to be removed from injured reserve. The Bears will have a roster move to make, possibly at defensive end, if they do eventually activate him in the future.
Martin is in his seventh season and has 18 career sacks. He had a toe injury at the start of training camp and was put on injured reserve to start the regular season.
