Lake Forest, IL -- The Chicago Bears Saturday placed running back Adrian Peterson on injured reserve, ending his season. With the loss of Peterson the Bears signed guard Oasim Mitchell from the practice squad to the active roster.

Peterson, a 1999 Walter Payton Award winner which is presented annually by The Sports Network, injured his ankle during the Bears' 24-17 loss at Seattle on October 19th. The second-year running back out of Georgia Southern was the Bears' third-leading rusher with 70 yards on 22 carriers. As a rookie, Peterson ranked fourth on the club in rushing (101 yards), third in carries (19) while averaging 5.3 yards per touch, also first among club running backs.

After playing in the first three games of the season, Peterson earned his first career start at Seattle before sitting out the last three games as a gameday inactive due to his injured ankle.

The loss of Peterson prompted the Bears to fill a roster spot with the signing of Mitchell. An undrafted college free agent out of North Carolina A&T, Mitchell was invited to the Browns' training camp following the 2002 NFL Draft. With the Browns, the 6-6, 335-pounder was signed to the practice squad and then released again September 12 before signing with Chicago. Mitchell was signed to the Bears' practice squad on September 15 after spending last season on the Browns' injured reserve.