Concern in Chicago: Luther Burden III still out due to injury
The Chicago Bears are facing a worrying situation with the health of one of their top draft picks. Rookie wide receiver Luther Burden III, selected at position 39, has been unable to practice since suffering a hamstring injury during the team’s first training session on May 20. Burden was expected to be ready for the start of training camp after missing spring training, but he still hasn’t been able to take the field.Also absent from Thursday’s practice were freshmen Shemar Turner (ankle) and Zah Frazier (personal reasons). Burden was a first-team All-SEC selection during the 2023-24 seasons and earned AP All-American honors during his sophomore season, in which he amassed 1,212 receiving yards. The Bears selected Burden after using their first-round pick on tight end Colston Loveland, the first time in the Common Draft Era (since 1967) that Chicago drafted pass catchers with their first two selections. Burden is expected to compete for the third receiver position for the Bears, behind DJ Moore and Rome Odunze. With Burden sidelined, veteran receivers Olamide Zacchaeus and Devin Duvernay have been taking reps with the first-team unit during the early days of training camp. Meanwhile, coaches are emphasizing mental preparation for the rookie.“We were very hopeful that he would be ready for the first day,” Bears coach Ben Johnson commented on Thursday. “But the soft tissue he was dealing with in the spring lingered a little longer than we wanted. So, really, it’s day-to-day with him. We hope to have him on the field pretty soon.”
Ben Johnson, Bears Coach
Johnson expressed his hope that Burden will be on the field for his first training in “a few” days, classifying his condition as “day to day”. Last week, Burden was the last of Chicago’s three second-round picks to sign his rookie contract, which is a fully guaranteed deal worth $10.965 million. He is the first player drafted at No. 39 to sign a fully guaranteed contract.“Everything our training staff tells us we can do physically with him, we’re utilizing,” Johnson said. “I know the receivers coach (Antwaan) Randle El has been on him in meetings, keeping him involved, they’re testing him non-stop. Our quarterbacks are pulling him aside, whether it’s in drills or on his own.”
Ben Johnson, Bears Coach
