When the Chicago Bears square off against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, offensive lineman Alex Leatherwood will be available for the first time since the season-opening game.

The Bears restored the former Alabama All-American to their 53-player active roster on Friday after Leatherwood missed six games because of mononucleosis.

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Leatherwood returns with the Chicago offensive line in an injury crisis.

On Friday, the Bears announced right tackle Larry Borom would miss Sunday’s game because of a concussion. Eleven-year veteran Riley Reiff is expected to step in for Borom.

The Bears placed center Lucas Patrick on injured reserve on Thursday after he sustained a toe injury in Monday night’s 33-14 victory over the New England Patriots. Left guard Cody Whitehair already was on injured reserve because of a knee injury suffered in Chicago’s 20-12 loss to the New York Giants on Oct. 2.

Leatherwood didn’t join the Bears until Aug. 31. After being designated a game-day inactive for the Sept. 11 opener, he went on reserve/non-football illness on Sept. 14 and returned to practice on Oct. 12.

Bears coach Matt Eberflus called Leatherwood a “work in progress. He hasn’t been here that long. He was out for a little bit, then came back. He’s been back a couple of weeks now, so it’s where you would think it is. But he’s working diligently at it with the coaches, and we think he’s in a good spot.”

Leatherwood won the Outland Trophy at Alabama as the nation’s best college lineman in 2020, entered the NFL as the 17th selection in the 2021 draft and started every game as a rookie for the Las Vegas Raiders – the first four at right tackle and the remaining 14 (including one playoff contest) at right guard.

But when Las Vegas reduced its preseason roster to the regular-season limit of 53 players on Aug. 30, the Raiders waived Leatherwood. The Bears were awarded Leatherwood as a waiver claim the next day.

Chicago and Dallas meet at noon CDT Sunday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.