Courtney Cronin
LAKE FOREST, Ailing. — The Chicago Bears proceed to take care of damage considerations to one among their high draft picks.
Rookie vast receiver Luther Burden III, who the Bears drafted thirty ninth total, has not practiced since struggling a hamstring damage throughout Chicago's first OTA on Could 20. Burden was anticipated to be prepared for the beginning of coaching camp after lacking spring exercises however has but to take the sphere.
“We had been very hopeful that he'd be able to go Day 1,” Bears coach Ben Johnson stated Thursday. “However the gentle tissue that he was coping with there within the springtime lingered somewhat bit longer than we wished. So actually, it is each day with him. Hopeful we'll get him on the market pretty quickly, although.”
Rookies Shemar Turner (ankle) and Zah Frazier (private) had been additionally absent from Thursday's follow.
Burden was a first-team All-SEC choice in the course of the 2023-24 seasons and earned AP All-American honors throughout a sophomore season when he totaled 1,212 receiving yards. The Bears drafted Burden after utilizing their first-round decide on tight finish Colston Loveland, the primary time within the Frequent Draft Period (since 1967) that Chicago drafted go catchers with its first two picks.
Burden is predicted to compete for the Bears' No. 3 receiver function behind DJ Moore and Rome Odunze. With Burden sidelined, veteran vast receivers Olamide Zacchaeus and Devin Duvernay have taken reps with the first-team unit in the course of the early days of coaching camp.
Within the meantime, coaches are emphasizing psychological preparation for the rookie.
“Every thing that our coaching workers is telling us we will do bodily with him, we're using,” Johnson stated. “I do know (vast receivers) coach (Antwaan) Randle El has been throughout him in conferences, protecting him concerned, he is being quizzed continuous. Our quarterbacks are taking him to the aspect whether or not it is walkthroughs or on their very own.
“So he is using that point as a lot as he can, however there's actually no substitute for full-speed reps, and so the earlier we get him on the market, the faster he can carve a job for himself.”
Johnson stated he is hopeful that Burden can be on the sphere for his first coaching camp follow in a “few” days whereas classifying his standing as “each day.”
Final week, Burden was the final of Chicago's three second-round picks to signal his rookie contract, which is a completely assured deal value $10.965 million. He's the primary participant drafted thirty ninth total to signal a completely assured contract.
