In case you missed it from earlier: God’s Wrath Watch: Long Misses Practice with Ankle Injury, Wheaton Lands On Injury Report.Â
Markus Wheaton was a bit of a surprise inclusion on Thursday’s injury report, but his limited participation in practice because of a groin injury could be worse than initially feared:
League sources: #Bears WR Markus Wheaton has a tear in his groin and could miss 4-6 weeks.
— Adam Jahns (@adamjahns) October 12, 2017
Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times reports Wheaton has a tear in his groin, which could cause him to miss four to six weeks. It’s just the latest setback in an injury filled year for Wheaton. If you’ll recall, Wheaton missed time in training camp because of an emergency appendectomy. He looked to be on an accelerated road to recovery before suffering a broken pinkie finger during the last public practice at training camp.
If Wheaton is out for a while, the Bears will be without three players they presumed would be top targets heading into the 2017 season as Cameron Meredith and Kevin White are on injured reserve.
The Bears signed Wheaton to a two-year deal in the offseason with hopes he could be a speedy downfield deep threat, an element the team has lacked this season. Instead, Wheaton has been unavailable and ineffective. His lone catch this season came on the final play of the Bears’ loss on Monday Night Football against the Minnesota Vikings.
Tanner Gentry has already received the call up to the active roster, where he hopes to reconnect with quarterback Mitch Trubisky – a player he worked often during the summer on the third-team offense because of their placement on the depth chart. Head coach John Fox has also come away impressed with Gentry, and showed he wasn’t afraid of giving young receivers a shot after giving Tre McBride 42 snaps in just his second game with the active roster.
Gentry’s potential has left Fox and offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains intrigued, and with Wheaton out, he could find himself in a spot to make the most of his playing time.