McPhee's knee surgery less serious than last year
BOURBONNAIS - Friday morning's arthroscopic surgery on outside linebacker Pernell McPhee's right knee is considered less serious than the one on his left knee that kept him out of training camp and the first seven games last season.
It's also not expected to leave him sidelined for anywhere near as long as cornerback Kyle Fuller, who missed all of last season after a preseason knee scope.
"The extent of the scope is just a cleanup," coach John Fox said. "We'll keep you posted as far as the timeline. I'm not going to try and predict that."
Two years ago the Bears originally listed then-rookie wide receiver Kevin White as day-to-day, and he wound up missing the entire season after requiring surgery to address stress fractures in his shin.
"I hate trying to distinguish all of it," Fox said. "There was player once here earlier that I thought had shin splints, and it ended up being a little more serious. I don't want to make light of it, but literally it was cleanup and something they were glad they went in (and did)."
Mixing it up:
Friday's walk-through practice was not open to the public, which was a good thing for the public.
It was what the Bears are calling a "C" practice, a short, less intense, unpadded practice used to provide a break for players.
Saturday's practice is the first in full pads.
"It was a lot of mental work, assignment checkouts," coach John Fox said. "We had a little introduction there to ball security and takeaways. We got the guys recovered a little bit before we put on the pads."
In and out:
Right guard Josh Sitton (paternity leave) is expected back on Saturday.
Running back Jeremy Langford (minor ankle sprain) and linebacker Dan Skuta (hip) both missed practice.
During a Thursday walk-through, Langford injured the same ankle that he had off-season surgery on, but it was a different, much-less-serious "tweak," according to Fox. Last year's sprain was of the high-ankle variety, while the current sprain is lower, which requires less down time. Skuta experienced some soreness in his surgical hip after Thursday's opening practice.
Defensive lineman Eddie Goldman and safety Deon Bush were back at practice Friday after missing a day due to dehydration.
Behind the scenes:
Last year defensive end Akiem Hicks was worth every cent of the $10 million, two-year deal he signed with the Bears during unrestricted free agency.
Hicks played 86.6 percent of the defensive snaps and led Bears linemen by a wide margin with 71 tackles. He also tied for second with 7 sacks and was first with 18 quarterback pressures.
After Hicks' agent, Drew Rosenhaus, was spotted in town, general manager Ryan Pace was asked about a potential contract extension for the 6-foot-5, 336-pounder.
"We're mindful of all the guys entering their final year, so those are things that are talked about behind the scenes," Pace said. "You know how it is with contracts; we'll keep those things internal."
Just a reminder:
Fans planning to attend training-camp practices must have a ticket to enter. Tickets are free and can be downloaded or printed from the team's website: http://www.chicagobears.com/events/training-camp.html.
Earlier starts:
The Bears have moved up starting times for seven training camp practices, all originally scheduled to begin at 11:15.
Practices Saturday and Sunday will begin at 10:30, as will practices on Aug, 3, 8 and 13.
Practices on Aug. 2 and 7 will begin at 11.
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