The Bears have decided to bench veteran cornerback Nathan Vasher in favor of second year man Zack Bowman.

Bowman will join Hunter Hillenmeyer as a new starter on the defense. Moving Bowman into the starting lineup is a great move, but he has to prove he can stay healthy, that was his problem his whole college career and we saw that last season.

This is what Bowman had to say about getting his first career start:

“I’m excited, it’s a good opportunity. I’ve been blessed with it and I’m just going to go out there and do my best and try to help this team win.”

In other news, the Bears have decided to let Nick Roach and Jamar Williams split time at the strong side linebacker spot on Sunday. Pisa Tinoisamoa is listed as week-to-week. Tinoisamoa and Dez Clark didn’t participate in practice, while  Mark Anderson, Danieal Manning and Frank Omiyale were limited and Al Afalava and Tommie Harris participated fully.

Here’s what Head Coach Lovie Smith had to say about the decision:

“We talked a lot about Jamar in the offseason, and Nick has started here, I just think both of them give us something, so we’re going to let both of them play.”