Bears waive Smith-Marsette, sign Coulter from practice squad

The Bears on Tuesday waived wide receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette, two weeks after Smith-Marsette lost a key fumble in a game against the Minnesota Vikings.

The Bears previously claimed Smith-Marsette off waivers on Sept. 1 after he failed to make the Vikings' 53-man roster coming out of training camp. The 23-year-old didn't catch a single pass for the Bears until the Week 5 game against his former team in Minneapolis.

The Bears needed a touchdown in the final two minutes. Quarterback Justin Fields connected with Smith-Marsette along the sideline for a first down near midfield. Smith-Marsette could've run out of bounds to stop the clock, but instead made a cut back inside. A Vikings defender ripped the football from his hands and essentially ended the game.

Smith-Marsette owned up to the mistake after the game and said he should've gone out of bounds.

"That's a moment where it's like, it's a team game and it was a selfish play by me trying to get more out of it," Smith-Marsette said after the game.

That proved to be the only reception of his Bears career. He also had 1 carry for a loss of 1 yard last week against Washington.

In a corresponding move, the Bears signed receiver Isaiah Coulter from the practice squad to the active roster. Coulter played in three games for the Bears last season. He went undrafted out of Rhode Island in 2020 and appeared in one game for the Houston Texans in 2020.

The Bears also signed tight end Sammis Reyes to the practice squad. Reyes played in 11 games for Washington last year, mostly on special teams. He is the first Chilean-born NFL player. Reyes first came to America when he was 14 and played college basketball before switching to football and participating in the NFL's International Player Pathway Program.