The Bears gave up seven sacks to the Broncos in Thursday night’s preseason opener, which likely played a role in their decision to add a pair of veteran offensive linemen to the roster on Saturday.
The Bears announced that they have signed Khaled Holmes and Shelley Smith to the 90-man roster. Undrafted rookie linemen Dan Buchholz and Donovan Williams were waived to make room.
“We’re always looking to get better,” Fox said, via the team’s website. “We’ll see how that pans out. Obviously they’re a little behind as far as knowledge of our systems. But our coaches will work with them and hopefully get them schooled up by Thursday.”
Holmes started at center for the first seven weeks of the 2015 season before getting sent to the bench and released earlier this offseason. The Bears lost projected starting center Hroniss Grasu for the season to a torn ACL last weekend, moving Ted Larsen into the job although Holmes could presumably work his way into the mix.
Smith has spent time with a variety of teams and last saw regular season playing time with the Dolphins in 2014. He adds to options on the interior of the line, where the Bears have Kyle Long, rookie Cody Whitehair and Amini Silatolu in addition to Larsen and Holmes.