As expected, the Bears on Tuesday put center Will Montgomery on season-ending injured reserve with a broken fibula he suffered early in Sunday's win over the Raiders.
Center Will Montgomery started the first four games of the season after signing with the Bears in April.
Montgomery started the first four games of the season after signing with the Bears in April. He arrived having appeared in 106 games with 71 starts over 10 seasons with the Panthers (2006), Jets (2007-08), Redskins (2008-13) and Broncos (2014). He played for Bears coach John Fox in both Carolina and Denver.
After Montgomery was injured on the third play of Sunday's game, the Bears moved Matt Slauson from left guard to center and installed Patrick Omameh at left guard. It's unclear how the Bears will replace Montgomery moving forward, but he will be missed.
"He sets everything," Slauson said Monday. "The communication is so fast with him in there. Not that it's not with me, but because I had to move, now a new guy comes in in my spot and now we've got two guys playing out of position. So when Will is there, I don't have to worry about anything. So it's a big loss for us."
It's not yet known whether the Bears will stick with the lineup they employed after Montgomery was injured against the Raiders or promote rookie center Hroniss Grasu, a third-round draft pick from Oregon, into the starting lineup.
Asked Monday if Grasu is ready to play, Fox said: "He's a very talented player. He's a guy that's familiar with our offense. I think everybody in our locker room or in our football building has confidence in him. At some point, we will get to find out."
