Bears likely to start training camp with injury issues
Even with six more weeks of rest and rehabilitation, it's highly unlikely the Bears will be 100 percent healthy when they report for the start of training camp July 26.
Linebacker Danny Trevathan (knee surgery), guard Kyle Long (shoulder, ankle surgery) and tight end Zach Miller (fractured foot) are all candidates to start camp on the physically-unable-to-perform (PUP) list or at least be limited in what they can do.
"As far as Danny, (and) I think Zach Miller, they're going to cutting it close for training camp," coach John Fox said. "But they're right on target, and that's kind of what we expected all off-season."
Trevathan's injury is the most serious, and it's possible he may not be ready for the start of the regular season.
Long did some individual work away from Tuesday's minicamp practice with the training staff.
"He did some explosion work this past week," Fox said. "He's right on target. It'll be touch-and-go whether he's ready for the first day of training camp or maybe early on in camp. But he's doing well."
Wide receiver Cam Meredith remains out of team practices with a thumb injury, although he was able to do some work on the side.
"He'll be back in time for training camp," Fox said of Meredith. "But it's giving somebody else an opportunity. There have been some guys sliding in."
Veteran unrestricted free-agent wide receivers Victor Cruz, Markus Wheaton and Kendall Smith have gotten additional reps with Meredith out.
Changing of the guards:
The Bears are tinkering with the idea of flip-flopping last year's right guard Kyle Long and left guard Josh Sitton, although Long is not practicing because of his recovery from a shoulder injury and ankle surgery.
"You want flexibility," coach John Fox said. "You don't want as much flexibility as we had to use a year ago because we had to play so many guys due to injury. But we're messing around with (Sitton) and Kyle both playing opposite sides. We'll get those looks in camp; we've got plenty of time."
Some similarities:
There are obvious differences between quarterbacks Mike Glennon, a 6-foot-6, 225-pound fifth-year veteran; and Mitch Trubisky, a 6-foot-3, 220-pound rookie.
But there are similarities as well.
"They're both more mobile than people think, which always helps," coach John Fox said. "Even at Mike's height, he's a good athlete, has good movement skills, good pocket presence."
Ultimately, the player who makes plays while taking better care of the ball will emerge as the starter.
"It comes down to decision-making, and that's something we need to do better," Fox said. "We threw a lot of interceptions a year ago (29th in percentage of passes intercepted), and that didn't help our cause."
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