Bears cut DL Robinson as they pare roster to 53 players

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Veteran defensive lineman Bryan Robinson, who had been with the Chicago Bears since 1998, was among 21 players cut Sunday as the team pared its roster to 53.

Robinson, who played both defensive end and tackle, appeared in 100 games with 82 starts. He joined the Bears a year after entering the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 1997.

The 30-year-old Robinson started 77 of 79 games since 1999, but became expendable when the Bears drafted defensive tackles Tommie Harris and Tank Johnson in the first two rounds last April.

"It really came down to a matter of what we're doing with our scheme. He did have value in our scheme ... But in the end we felt there were younger players going into second and third years and the arrow was going up on them and we felt good about them," Bears general manager Jerry Angelo said.

Alfonso Boone, in his fourth season, and Harris will start at tackles. And the Bears have Johnson, second-year player Ian Scott and free agent Israel Idonije, who can play tackle or end.

"The older players we had here, our veteran players, they accepted everything we asked of them. Bryan Robinson is a perfect example," first-year coach Lovie Smith said.

"You couldn't asked more from a veteran than what he gave. It's as simple as (having) the best players available for us to win right now and that's what we did."

Also waived Sunday were veteran running back and special teams player Rabih Abdullah; defensive back Blue Adams; offensive lineman Bryan Anderson; punter Brooks Barnard; wide receiver Aaron Boone; linebacker Jeremy Cain; defensive end Quinn Dorsey; defensive back Vontez Duff; wide receiver Andr? Ford; running back Brooke Forest; lineman Michael Kathleen; linebacker Bryan Knight; defensive back Alfonso Marshall; wide receiver Ahmad Merritt; defensive end Surron Pierson; tight end Mike Pinkard; linebacker Jery Schumacher; offensive lineman Josh Warner; and defensive end Cliff Washburn.

The Bears also placed offensive tackle Marc Colombo on the physically unable to perform list (knee) and put tight end Gabe Reid on injured reserve after he hurt his knee in the preseason finale at Cleveland on Friday night.

Forsey started two games last season and had 134 yards rushing against Arizona, but was beaten out for the backup running back spot by Adrian Peterson.

Merritt played three seasons with the Bears as a kick returner and wide receiver and scored his only NFL touchdown in a playoff loss to the Eagles after the 2001 season. He was edged out for a roster spot by Daryl Jones.

Knight played well on special teams at times during his two years with the Bears, but the former fifth-round draft choice didn't make the progress the team expected, Angelo said.

Robinson, who switched from full-time defensive end to tackle in 2002, finished with 17½ sacks for the Bears and had 32 deflected passes in his career.

Robinson, who spent three weeks in a rehab center last year after his second DUI in a year, signed a five-year, $20 million contract in December 2001, but had renegotiated the deal.