The Chicago Bears tight end Zach Miller sounded positive when talking about his recent foot injury.
When Zach Miller is on the field, there is no doubting his talent. However, the question with Miller has been how long is he able to stay on the field? Miller ended his 2016 season on the Injured Reserved list after breaking his foot against the Giants in week 11. Fortunately, Miller had some good news when asked about his recovery.
At #Bears Care Gala tonight, Zach Miller said his foot is, "close to 100%, if not there." Said he'll take it slow during OTA's.
— Mike Berman (@MikeBermanNBC) May 21, 2017
This foot injury is not the first injury in the career of Zach Miller. In fact, at this point he has likely spent more weeks on the injury report than he has as an active football player. For the former sixth-round pick from Nebraska-Omaha, the injuries started in 2011.
Miller suffered a dislocated shoulder in week four of his 2011 season. He tried to suit up the next week, but wound up inactive and onto the injured reserve for the first time.
From there, freak injuries started to occur. In 2012, Miller tore his Achilles, ended his season before it even started. Miller signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2013. However, he suffered a concussion, and that compounded with the Achilles rehab was enough for the Bucs to waive the tight end.
In 2014 the Bears signed him, and of course, injury struck again. This time it was another foot injury. A torn ligament in his foot finished his year again before it even started and left him with four starts in four seasons.
After a somewhat healthy 2015, that did still see his name to the injury report, Miller became one of the more relied on passing options in 2016. For someone as unlucky as him, and now at age 32 it is tough to say how much the team can rely on Miller. However, his optimism this early into the offseason should be a great sign that he will be out there for the first day of training camp without any signs of a nagging injury.
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While the team did draft Adam Shaheen, and he appears to be Miller’s replacement in waiting, Shaheen is too raw and not ready to play yet. It will be a great boost to the unit, and to the development of Shaheen to watch Miller out there. Here is hoping his optimism comes with a full season of play.