NFL Pro Bowl adds Chicago Bears guard Sitton to roster
Initially shut out in Pro Bowl voting, the Chicago Bears will now have two participants, after guard Josh Sitton was added Monday as a replacement.
Sitton will join Bears rookie running back Jordan Howard, who also was added as a replacement for Sunday's Pro Bowl in Orlando, Florida.
The 30-year-old Sitton helped clear the way for the fifth-round pick to become the NFL's second-leading rusher with 1,313 yards, which established a Bears rookie record.
It will be the fourth Pro Bowl and the third straight for Sitton, who was signed by the Bears just one week before the start of the 2016 regular season, after he was cut by the Green Bay Packers.
"It's always a goal of mine every year," Sitton said of his Pro Bowl berth. "It's a goal of most guys. Just like every time in the past, it's an honor to me, and it's an honor to the guys that I play with. I couldn't have done it without the dudes around me, (left tackle) Charles (Leno) and (center) Cody (Whitehair) helping me along and helping me when I was kind of thrown into the fire there at the beginning of the year."
Coincidentally, Sitton replaces former teammate T.J. Lang, who left the Packers' NFC title game Sunday after refracturing his left foot.
"Each one you get, you're very, very thankful for," Sitton said. "The first one is probably the best one, and then the older you get the more you appreciate them.
"You can't play at a high level in this game forever. I don't know if I'll ever get back; you don't know these things. So the whole age thing makes it more special. I'm still young, though."
Sitton and his linemates also helped the Bears accumulate 4,139 gross passing yards and 3,969 net passing yards, both third best in franchise history. The Bears finished sixth in average gain per rushing attempt and eighth in sacks allowed per passing play.
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