Even with the Caleb Williams-Ben Johnson dynamic, there's probably at least a halfway-decent argument to be made that Luther Burden is the most interesting piece of the Bears' offense. Burden was one of the best wide receivers in his class, and draft analysts across the board absolutely loved the Bears' decision to draft him – somewhat surprisingly – early in the 2nd round.
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After a brief appearance at rookie minicamp, Burden's been sidelined for almost all of the Bears' offseason activities while dealing with a soft tissue injury he picked up in said minicamp. And while he's supposedly on track to be ready for Bears training camp in late July, it's never great when rookies miss huge chunks of their first offseason schedule in Year 1. On Tuesday, Ben Johnson went into some detail about what, exactly, rookies like Burden miss out on when they can't participate.
Ben Johnson's comments on Luther Burden's absence are just a tiny bit worrying
"He misses a lot," Johnson said. "Anytime 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. It's not just the coaching staff having trust in you doing the right thing over and over, but it's also your teammates. They've got to be out there, they've got to see you do it. They've got to know that the guys to the right and left of them are going to do the right things and make the right plays when called upon. It's a shame that he got dinged up and missed all that time, because for a young player, it's really where you get the most reps, and you can get better in a hurry that way. And that's really for any player on this team."
This is ... way more direct than I expected? Almost alarmingly honest? I think this answer says more about Ben Johnson's coaching style than it does Burden's availability, but there is, admittedly, a sense of urgency to Johnson's tone that could be overreacted to, if that was your thing. No judgement here.
Soft tissue injuries are notoriously difficult to return from, and it's not like the Bears are going to rush Burden back on the field for the last day of 7-on-7's if they don't need to. It's probably not a big deal, but Johnson sure does make it sound like one. I have no idea whether that's a good thing or not.