Signed as an insurance policy, and expected to provide the Chicago Bears an outside pass rush in situational playing time, defensive end Keith McKenzie was released Wednesday by the Chicago Bears.

The move was somewhat surprising, in that the team must pay McKenzie his entire $750,000 base salary for the season, since he is a vested veteran. But the seventh-year pro was unproductive, even when used as a starter because of injuries, and the Bears needed to create a roster spot to add deep snapper Jody Littleton.

Incumbent deep snapper Patrick Mannelly has been nursing a knee injury.

McKenzie, 28, appeared in four games for the Bears and started in three because of an injury to right end Phillip Daniels. But he had only four tackles, failed to register a sack, and was generally ineffective.

The team signed McKenzie late in the summer, rewarding him with a two-year, $2.85 million contract. Between a $100,000 signing bonus, his base salary, and reporting and roster bonuses, McKenzie will earn $1.2 million this year for playing less than two months of the season.

A former Ball State standout, McKenzie spent the first four season of his career with the Green Bay Packers, where he played as a third-down pass rusher. He then moved to the Cleveland Browns in 2000 and was a starter for most of his two years there. He became an unrestricted free agent after last season but teams held off signing him because of an ankle injury that he sustained toward the end of the '01 campaign.

For his career, he has 145 tackles, 29½ sacks, eight forced fumbles, one interception and 12 passes defensed. McKenzie has appeared in 85 games and started 27 of them.

In related news, Bears starting quarterback Jim Miller missed Wednesday's practice with tendinitis in his right shoulder and elbow, and is now listed as "questionable" for Sunday's game. Backup Chris Chandler took the snaps with the first unit on Wednesday but Miller is hopeful of returning to the field for the Thursday workout.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.