Bears exploring creative solutions as injuries deplete WR depth

The Bears went into the season with a very talented but very thin group of wide receivers. Their depth dwindled Sunday when Tyler Scott was a healthy scratch and DJ Moore, Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze got hurt during the game.

With Odunze (knee) unlikely to play Sunday at the Texans and Allen (heel) in question, the offense needs to patch together a crew of receiving options. Both missed practice Thursday.

Wide receivers coach Chris Beatty said Scott is “going to get some opportunities here coming up,” and that while Carter has played predominantly on special teams the last two seasons, “A lot of people don’t know how good he is.”

Beatty also mentioned the possibility of using Jones at receiver, though the Bears opted for Carter over him against the Titans and even had running back D’Andre Swift line up wide.

Carter played 13 snaps on offense, his second-most in the last two seasons. Carter had career highs of 46 catches, 538 yards and three touchdowns for the Chargers in 2022.

Passing game coordinator Thomas Brown also floated a workaround with tight ends Cole Kmet and Gerald Everett filling in the shortfall at receiver.

“We have supreme trust in every receiver we have active on game day, but also the benefit of having those two tight ends active,” Brown said. “We can use Gerald in some scenarios where he’s going to be in the slot as a receiver.”