Gould doubtful, so Bears sign kicker Feely
With kicker Robbie Gould listed as doubtful with a right quadriceps injury, the Bears signed 14-year veteran Jay Feely as their fallback option for Thursday night's game against the Dallas Cowboys.
Last season with the Arizona Cardinals, Feely hit 30 of 36 field goal attempts for an 83.3 percent success rate. But he was waived before the start of the 2014 season in favor of undrafted rookie Chandler Catanzaro. Feely has 329 career field goals on 398 attempts (82.7 percent).
"Honored to sign with the Bears this morning," Feeley tweeted Wednesday. "I grew up watching and cheering for Walter Payton and had a signed picture of him on my wall."
Gould, who was injured this week, has a lifetime success rate of 85.6 percent (243 of 284) in 10 seasons, all with the Bears, and is the eighth-most accurate kicker in NFL history. But he is just 9-for-12 this year, and that 75.0 percent success rate would be the lowest of his career.
Gould's 35-yard field goal last week against the Detroit Lions was his first in six games and tied him with Kevin Butler for the most field goals in franchise history. He missed a 54-yard attempt the previous game and a 47-yarder a week before that, his only attempts in those two games. In games 7-9, Gould did not attempt a field goal. In the previous nine seasons, Gould had never gone more than two straight games without a field goal.
In Feely's last four seasons, all with the Cardinals, he connected on 85.2 percent of his kicks (98 for 115).
The 5-foot-10, 206-pound, 38-year-old has also played with the Atlanta Falcons (2001-04), New York Giants (2005-06), Miami Dolphins (2007) and New York Jets (2008-09).
Other injuries:
Wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, who had 2 touchdown catches last week among his 9 receptions for 71 yards, was listed as questionable for Thursday night, along with defensive tackle Jeremiah Ratliff (knee) and safety Chris Conte (eye).
Ratliff, 32, played his first eight seasons with the Cowboys and was voted to the Pro Bowl five times before an acrimonious split preceded his signing with the Bears. He missed last week's game because of the injured knee, and missed games 3-5 with a concussion.
Tight end Martellus Bennett (foot), cornerback Tim Jennings (groin), guard Kyle Long (calf) and defensive end Trevor Scott (knee) are all probable. Defensive end Cornelius Washington (chest) is doubtful, and linebacker Darryl Sharpton (hamstring) is out for the fifth straight game.
He gone:
Wide receiver/return specialist Chris Williams (hamstring) was waived/injured to create a roster spot for kicker Jay Feely.
Williams missed the previous two games and has been replaced by Marc Mariani. In seven games, Williams returned 24 kickoffs for 579 yards (24.1-yard average), including a 101-yard touchdown against the Green Bay Packers on Nov. 9, when he tied the NFL record with 10 kickoff returns (288 yards) in one game. He also returned 4 punts for 30 yards (7.5-yard average).