Bears rookie WR Luther Burden III had a much-needed breakout performance on Thursday after a rough start to training camp
The rookie is starting to put great work on tape.
It’s been a rough start to training camp for Chicago Bears rookie wide receiver Luther Burden III.
The team’s second-round selection was sidelined during the spring and into the first days of camp due to a lingering soft tissue injury in his hamstring. As a result, Burden missed valuable time to get the on-field trust going with his teammates and coaches.
At the start of this week, Burden finally took the field with the rest of the offense and slowly started getting ramped up to full team drills. Naturally, there were a few mental lapses and problems with pre-snap alignment on Monday and Tuesday that caused some concerns but Burden has been able to start putting those issues behind him.
“I feel like I’ve got to know my stuff,” Burden explained. “[Head coach Ben Johnson] holds everybody to a high standard here. It’s great for us, great for the team and that’s the standard here.”
Wednesday was the first step in the right direction for the young pass catcher, who started earning some positive reviews from his head coach.
“The play speed stood out to me [on Wednesday],” head coach Ben Johnson told reporters ahead of Thursday’s practice. “I was really impressed with that. Still working on the alignment, the details, as you would expect for a young player, but the play speed jumped off the tape to us all yesterday.”
The impressive on-field work continued to turn heads in a big way on Thursday. Burden put together his best day yet as an offensive weapon for this team catching passes from both quarterbacks in Caleb Williams and Tyson Bagent.
As a whole, the entire offense was reportedly clicking on all cylinders with other big plays being made from DJ Moore, Rome Odunze, and Olamide Zaccheaus as well. A much-needed sight after a “disappointing” practice on Wednesday, but it’s clear Burden was the real standout of the day.
Burden’s best play of the day came after connecting with Bagent on a one-on-one drill against cornerback Shaun Wade in which Burden won the footrace, showed off his late hands to make the catch, and make his way to the endzone for a touchdown.
It’s great to see Burden showing out and really demonstrating what he can bring to this offense. With his ability to make contested catches, win down the field, and create with the ball in his hands, this guy can become a real threat early for Ben Johnson once all these little details are ironed out.
