Bears WR Luther Burden III not seen during the first day of training camp despite generating buzz on social media earlier this week
The Chicago Bears wrapped up the first day of training camp on Wednesday and two notable rookies were not present on the field with the rest of the team.Most notably, second-round wide receiver Luther Burden III did not participate in practice after also missing time earlier in the offseason program due to a soft tissue […]
The Chicago Bears wrapped up the first day of training camp on Wednesday and two notable rookies were not present on the field with the rest of the team.
Most notably, second-round wide receiver Luther Burden III did not participate in practice after also missing time earlier in the offseason program due to a soft tissue injury in his hamstring. Fifth-round rookie cornerback Zah Frazier was also not on the field throughout the morning.
Seeing these absences comes as a surprise. Neither player were mentioned by general manager Ryan Poles nor head coach Ben Johnson while speaking with the media on Tuesday.
In Burden's case, missing even more time is costly. His head coach, and offensive play-caller, already discussed how much Burden has missed when it comes to building chemistry with the other offensive starters.
"He misses a lot," Johnson said about Burden. "Any time you're not out there, if you're in the training room when the rest of the guys are practicing, you're losing valuable time; valuable time with your coaches, valuable reps with your teammates, the ability to build the trust that we're talking about."
What makes Burden's absence even more questionable is that earlier this week, Burden posted a new vlog on YouTube showing off the work he's been putting in this offseason including running on a treadmill, going through footwork drills at the team facility, and riding a stationary bike by himself. Although, we don't have any idea when these workouts were actually filmed.
As for Frazier, there's no update yet on why the rookie defensive back was sidelined to open camp, but the absences are piling up at the position. Top cornerback Jaylon Johnson is expected to miss "weeks" due to a leg injury after being placed on the NFI list. In Johnson and Frazier's absence, Nahshon Wright was seen taking first-team reps at cornerback, according to ESPN's Courtney Cronin.
It sucks seeing two rookies out of action and missing valuable time during training camp. The Bears will hold three more practices this week before taking a break on Sunday. We'll provide any updates once we learn more or once they return to action.
As for good injury news, left tackle Braxton Jones and tight end Colston Loveland were out on the field on Wednesday starting what Poles described as a "ramp up" process to get the rust shaken off.
