LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Former UTSA cornerback Zah Frazier will miss his rookie season with the Chicago Bears, general manager Ryan Poles said on Tuesday.
Frazier, a fifth-round pick, was placed on the non-football injury list because of a “personal” reason that has kept him sidelined since spring workouts. He last practiced in May during rookie minicamp.
“He had a situation that presented itself in a category that I would say [is] ‘personal,'” Poles said. “As we dug into it, tried to help him out, it revealed itself as something that happened before he got here. So, credit to our staff finding the root cause of what he was going through.
“Kind of a bummer on the front end, but I think because of everyone’s hard work and care here we got him on the right path.”
Frazier was spotted at practice on Aug. 20 for the first time during training camp riding on a golf cart with team personnel. Poles said that the cornerback will participate in meetings, work in the weight room and with the medical staff to prepare for the 2026 season.
Frazier’s college career began in 2019 and culminated in 2024 with his only season as a starter at UTSA. He’s an older prospect who turns 25 in October, but the Bears said they were more than willing to take a shot and develop a player who has all the traits the team covets in a press-man corner: height, length and speed (4.36-second 40-yard dash).
Elsewhere in the Bears’ secondary, cornerback Jaylon Johnson was activated off the non-football injury list and onto the 53-man roster. Johnson missed all of training camp with a soft tissue injury he sustained in his leg while training away from the team’s facility in the offseason.
Poles called Johnson’s injury “a little bit more significant” given the amount of time it has taken for the Pro Bowler to get back on the field. The general manager said the team is pushing for Johnson to be available for Chicago’s opener against the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field on Sept. 8.
“When I was going out to practice, he was running and doing agility work, so I feel like he’s getting better,” Poles said. “When you’re going from not playing and just training to football, there’s all kinds of different things that kind of change timelines, so we’re hopeful that he continues to get better, but we also have to be smart to make sure he’s good long term as well. We’ll just take that day by day and really work with our medical staff to make sure we’re doing right by Jaylon.”
