Bears place guard Kyle Long on injured reserve

BUFFALO, N.Y. - The Bears placed guard Kyle Long on injured reserve on Saturday with a right foot injury he suffered in last week's 24-10 victory over the Jets.

Long, who ended each of the previous two seasons on injured reserve with a variety of ailments, is eligible to return for the final regular-season game. The most severe of Long's injuries was a right ankle in 2016 that required surgery. Bears coach Matt Nagy said earlier in the week that Long's current injury is not related to the ankle problem.

Running back Taquan Mizzell, who spent training camp and the preseason with the Bears, was signed to replace Long on the 53-man roster. The Bears also announced that tight end Ben Braunecker (concussion) and defensive lineman Bilal Nichols (knee) did not make the trip to Buffalo for Sunday's game against the 2-6 Bills.

Rookie James Daniels got his first start last week at left guard after alternating series there with veteran Eric Kush, who missed last week's game with a neck injury. Kush has been cleared this week after a full practice on Friday, so he could move into Long's spot with Daniels remaining on the left side where he has achieved a comfort level. But Nagy declined to say Kush was 100 percent.

"It would be hard to put a percent on that," Nagy said. "I don't know that for sure. But he's ready to go, and we feel good collectively between him and the trainers and our coaches that if we put him out there, then we expect him to be able to play full go."

Another option is for Bryan Witzmann to start at one of the OG spots. The former Chief stepped in for Long late last week after he was injured, and he started 13 games for Kansas City last year when Nagy was the offensive coordinator there, so he's familiar with the Bears' offense.

"We don't have that set," Nagy said on Friday regarding the O-line configuration. "We feel like we know a direction that we're going, but it's not completely set. We've been open with the guards and communicating with them, and when the time comes, we'll let them know first. And then we'll go ahead and move forward."

• Bob LeGere is a senior writer at Pro Football Weekly. Follow Bob's Bears reports on Twitter @BobLeGere or @PFWeekly.