Bears put Cody Whitehair on IR, designate N’Keal Harry to return

The Bears have put guard Cody Whitehair on injured reserve just one game shy of his 100th with the franchise.

After putting him on IR on Wednesday afternoon, the Bears designated wide receiver N’Keal Harry to return from his own IR trip. Harry had high-ankle surgery after getting hurt in August. He has three weeks to practice before the Bears must decide whether to activate him for game day. Head coach Matt Eberflus said the Bears “like where he is” physically and wouldn’t rule out a return Sunday.

“Now we’re going to see him work in individual [drills],” Eberflus said.

Whitehair hurt his right knee in Sunday’s 20-12 loss to the Giants. Monday, coach Matt Eberflus said that he had a serious injury, but that he would not miss the rest of the season. Players put on IR can return after missing a minimum of four games.

Whitehair is one of the Bears’ elder statesmen. Picked out of Kansas State in the second round, Whitehair is one of two Bears regulars still left from the 2016 draft class. Safety DeAndre Houston-Carson was picked in the same draft, but was released and re-signed by the team earlier in his career. Long-snapper Patrick Scales is technically the longest-tenured Bears player, having signed toward the end of 2015.

With Whitehair out, the Bears will use Lucas Patrick at left guard and Teven Jenkins at right guard, Eberflus said Monday. That leaves Sam Mustipher at center; he was in danger of losing his spot to Patrick, who was signed in March to snap but hurt his hand in the first week of training camp.

The Bears traded a 2023 seventh-round pick to the Patriots for Harry, the onetime first-round pick out of Arizona State, in July.

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