After a disappointing final season at Missouri that dropped his draft stock, Chicago Bears rookie wide receiver Luther Burden is certainly sufficiently motivated to prove the other 31 NFL teams wrong for passing on him.
But on the second day of Bears' voluntary OTAs (May 21), head coach Ben Johnson explained Burden's absence from the day's practice.
"Yeah, he wasn't there today. We're working through a little soft tissue deal with him right now, and remains to be seen when we'll get him back", Johnson said, via Adam Jahns of The Athletic.
By all accounts, Burden was not on the practice field as the Bears continued OTAs the following week. Mandatory minicamp this past week would be his next opportunity to get on-field work in Johnson's new offense, before a final set of OTAs next week (June 9-11 as of now) that many veteran players won't be present for.
At the conclusion of minicamp, Jahns reported Burden remained sidelined throughout.
"No injured players returned to practice. Tight end Colston Loveland, receiver Luther Burden III, linebacker T.J. Edwards, nickelback Kyler Gordon and left tackle Braxton Jones all remained out."
Luther Burden is quickly falling behind in sneaky battle for Bears' WR3 role
Soft tissue injuries, no matter how bad they may or may not be based on initial diagnosis, demand caution because of how easily an aggravation or re-injury can happen. So having Burden sit out if there's any doubt about this injury being fully healed is the best plan right now, and he is surely getting plenty of mental reps.
It has been easily assumed Burden is a lock to be the Bears' WR3/slot receiver. How big that role will ultimately be is a separate question, if Johnson comes through on the idea of deploying plenty of two-tight end sets with rookie Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet, but in the bigger picture there will be room for a third wide receiver to make an impact.
With Burden out during Bears' minicamp, Clay Harbor of CHSN lauded free agent signing Olamide Zaccheaus as strong competition for the rookie in the battle to be the No. 3 receiver.
"This is a bigger competition than people think...You can trust him, but he’s extremely quick", Harbor said, of Zaccheaus. "You’re obviously going to have a number of packages for Luther Burden — but I think after watching Zaccheaus, he has a number of packages for himself, as well. He’s extremely quick. He’s a good blocker. He’s catching everything. He’s just this guy that’s crafty, quick, will do whatever you want him to do to help the team win the game. Like, dirty stuff, but also, you saw him get 500 yards last year, 45 catches with the team that made the NFC Championship Game. That counts for something.”
There are a lot of mouths to feed in the Bears' offense. While there has to be some regard for it only being OTAs/minicamp, Zaccheaus has done what he has to do make a case for a bigger role than anyone expects. The praise Johnson has had for him back in March shouldn't be discounted.
Ideally, Burden will be able to get on the practice field for the Bears' final OTAs starting Monday. Even if he is able to do so, a legit training camp battle for the WR3 role is taking shape.