The injury bug is already nibbling at the Chicago Bears.
Check it out:
Trey Burton has mild groin strain, per Ryan Pace. It’s unrelated to his offseason sports hernia surgery.
— JJ Stankevitz (@JJStankevitz) September 2, 2019
Bears GM Ryan Pace says Trey Burton has a “mild groin strain” that is unrelated to his offseason sports hernia surgery. He’s day to day.
— Kevin Fishbain (@kfishbain) September 2, 2019
Bears GM Ryan Pace informed reporters on Monday that tight end Trey Burton has a groin injury. The issue is separate from what led to Burton having sports hernia surgery in the offseason. In any case, this is not good news for the Bears, their top pass-catching tight end option, or the offense as a whole.
In his first season with the Bears, Burton caught 54 passes for 569 yards and six touchdowns. He was a trusted target of Mitch Trubisky, who posted a 112.0 passer rating when throwing to Chicago’s top “U” tight end option. Without Burton working the middle of the field against a Packers defense that allowed tight end receiving touchdowns in each of the last three weeks of the 2018 season, the Bears must adjust accordingly.
Burton did not practice on Sunday during the time the assembled media at Halas Hall was allowed to watch, according to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune. Being unavailable for a Sunday practice just days ahead of the Bears’ regular-season lid-lifter against the Packers cast some doubt on his availability for Week 1. The announcement of a new injury isn’t going to help matters.
I suppose the good news here is that Pace acknowledged tight end Adam Shaheen is in a healthy place heading into Week 1, per Patrick Finley of the Sun-Times. Even still … that leaves the Bears’ tight ends room with Ben Braunecker and converted tackle Bradley Sowell as the depth pieces responsible for stepping in as the next-man-up. Considering how important the tight end is in Matt Nagy’s offense, this development is troubling.
We will continue to monitor Burton’s progress as news becomes available. But at first blush, be prepared to not see the talented tight end on the field in Week 1.