BOURBONNAIS, Ill. -- Undrafted rookie free agent Dom DeCicco could be in the mix for the sixth linebacker spot on the Chicago Bears final 53-man roster.
The Bears generally break camp with six linebackers, but right now only four or five positions are secure: Brian Urlacher, Lance Briggs, Nick Roach, Brian Iwuh and probably rookie sixth-round draft choice J.T. Thomas. Thomas, however, has been sidelined with a few injuries in the opening weeks of training camp.
The club continues to keep tabs on Pisa Tinoisamoa, but the veteran is still recovering from offseason knee surgery and is doubtful to be 100 percent by the start of the regular season.
If the club opts to fill the void at linebacker in-house, then DeCicco has three more preseason games to further impress the coaching staff.
"Of course we want to see a little more of J.T. Thomas, but Dom DeCicco has done a good job at the middle linebacker spot filling in," Bears head coach Lovie Smith said.
"He played well on special teams (against Buffalo)," Smith said. "We had a few guys play well on special teams, but he was one of them."
DeCicco, who played safety for much of his career at Pittsburgh, did transition to linebacker in the second half of the 2010 season. He made a pre-visit to Chicago and caught the eye of Bears linebackers coach Bob Babich, who happens to be a native of Pennsylvania and a former Pitt assistant coach.
DeCicco was the Bears’ second-leading tackler in the preseason opener versus the Buffalo Bills with four stops.
