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Velus Jones, running back, made the Bears’ initial 53-man roster Tuesday. Two of the other stars of ‘‘Hard Knocks’’ didn’t.
The Bears cut their quarterback room in half by releasing veteran Brett Rypien and waiving undrafted rookie Austin Reed before the NFL’s transaction deadline. Both turned in strong preseason performances — Rypien had a 131.4 passer rating and Reed a 117.4 rating in exhibition games — but the Bears were comfortable (at least for now) keeping only starter Caleb Williams and backup Tyson Bagent.