More coming from the ongoing Ryan Pace/Matt Nagy season-ending presser, but some important injury updates to provide right away.
The team announced that all of ILB Roquan Smith, TE Trey Burton, and WR Anthony Miller require(d) surgery for their injuries, and the hope is that all will be ready to go for training camp this summer.
Smith, 22, tore his pec earlier this month, ending his season and ultimately requiring surgery. He’s got two more years left on his initial rookie deal, plus the fifth year option.
Burton, 28, has dealt with a lingering groin injury since just before last year’s playoff game, and the Bears are hoping that surgery can finally remedy the problem. He’s still under contract through 2021, and the Bears would save nothing against the 2020 cap by letting him go, so, yeah, they’ll just have to hope he’s able to return to form this summer.
Miller, 25, has two years left on his initial rookie deal, and he’s been plagued by left shoulder problems through his first two season. The injury required surgery last year at this time to repair the labrum, and he needs surgery again on the same shoulder. He was injured returning a kick in this past weekend’s meaningless game, and it’s not yet clear if that was a brand new injury, an exacerbation of something that was ongoing, or was an injury directly related to last year’s surgery. Whatever the case, multiple surgeries on the same shoulder is never a good thing.
As for Mitch Trubisky, 25, Ryan Pace held open the possibility that the non-throwing shoulder, which Trubisky hurt earlier this season and played through with a harness, may ultimately require surgery.