In the midst of an injury crisis, the Bears sign a former Patriots second-round cornerback.

With injuries in the secondary piling, the Chicago Bears signed cornerback Joejuan Williams off the Minnesota Vikings practice squad on September 27.

The Bears’ injury report for September 27 mentioned four players, all of whom were defensive backs: corners Jaylon Johnson (hamstring), Josh Blackwell (hamstring), and rookie Tyrique Stevenson (sickness), as well as starting safety Eddie Jackson. Kyler Gordon, the team’s second-year starter, is now on injured reserve with a fractured hand.

If Johnson, Blackwell, and Stevenson all miss Chicago’s Week 4 game against the

In addition to Williams, the Bears have Terell Smith and Jaylon Jones on their roster. Greg Stroman Jr. is also a practice squad option.
Joejuan Williams Played for the Patriots for Three Years
Williams, a former second-round choice of the New England Patriots out of Vanderbilt in 2019, appeared in 36 games (one start) for the Pats between 2019 and 2021. During that time, he has 44 total tackles (31 solo), a quarterback hit, and eight pass breakups.

He has 328 coverage snaps in his career and has allowed 21 receptions on 36 targets (58.3 reception %) for 328 yards (15.6 yards per grab) and two touchdowns. Williams appeared to be primed for a breakout after his 2021 season, but he missed the entire 2022 season after injuring his shoulder in August of that year.

The 6-foot-3, 212-pound corner is large for the position and slow, but he’s effective at using his body during contested catches. He has mostly played on the outside, but he can also play in the box or the slot when necessary.

“Those bigger corners, just because they’re long, they can play physical, I think he’s done a really, really great job since he’s gotten here, physically preparing himself as a bigger corner, he’s a very strong player,” Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell said of Williams, as reported by Sports Illustrated. “With reroutes and rhythm and timing of passing games, he’ll cause a lot of problems for us around the line of scrimmage.” He’s a shrewd player with great instincts.”

By signing Williams off of Minnesota’s practice squad, he automatically becomes a member of Chicago’s 53-man roster, thus he might see play against the Broncos in Week 4 at Soldier Field.

Losing Gordon after the first game of the season was a huge blow for the Bears’ secondary, which is surrendering the third-most passing yards per game in the NFL.”We have a lot of great players and stuff like that.” But we just have to bring it all together,” Bears starting safety Jaquan Brisker stated following practice on September 27. “I’d say we’ll be a different team once we do that.” It only takes one win to make a significant difference. So just focus on each day of this week and attack the day and the week.”

Through three games, Chicago has also allowed 35.3 points per game on defense. Only the Broncos allow more points per game (40. 7), therefore the moment has come for a Bears squad in dire need of a win.

Beth Mishler-Elmore is a Midwest-based Heavy sports contributor who covers the Chicago Bears, Philadelphia Eagles, and Miami Heat. She also covers the Bears for CBS Sports station Bear Report. More information on Beth Mishler-Elmore