Markus Wheaton undergoes appendectomy, expected to miss most of training camp

It is slowly starting to feel like 2016 all over again. Another Bears player suffers a significant injury

Markus Wheaton was one of the signings that were supposed to give Bears the belief that this season would be unlike the ones before. However, after news broke that Wheaton had to have an appendectomy early on into camp, it appears as though he is just another player who is bringing back memories of the year before.

This is not the first injury surprise to come from Bears camp. During the first day, Pernell McPhee was placed on the physically able to perform list, which means the first six weeks of the regular season are in jeopardy for him. On top of that Kyle Long has yet to practice, Josh Sitton went home for the weekend, and Eric Kush has suffered a small hamstring tweak.

There is no exact timetable to return from an appendectomy, but it is hard to imagine Wheaton being a key factor in any of the remaining camp practices over the next few weeks. Wheaton came in with some injury questions of his own. After a relatively healthy first three seasons in the NFL, Wheaton was active for just three games, starting in only two for the Steelers last season.

He caught four passes for 51 yards and a touchdown but was sidelined for nearly the entire season with a shoulder injury that wound up with him on the injured reserved list during the Steelers playoff run.

Next: Slot WR battle

While an appendectomy should not have long term effects, this is not a good start to his career in Chicago. A player who has hardly played over the past 365 days on his old team is now off to a slow start with his new team. These snaps were more important for players such as Wheaton than others, and now missing them will only give Mike Glennon and Mitchell Trubisky time to gel and form relationships with other wide receivers.