In an attempt to recover from a mysterious injury that limited him all season, Bears tight end Trey Burton had surgery on his hip, general manager Ryan Pace said Tuesday.
The location of the surgery is noteworthy — the Bears considered his injury to be in the groin area, and he had surgery there last spring. The recent surgery was on the labrum in his hip, and Pace said the Bears “hope that’s an underlying issue that’s all connected.”
Inside linebacker Roquan Smith had surgery on the pec he tore against the Cowboys, too. And receiver Anthony Miller is expected to have left shoulder surgery after he hurt it returning a kick Sunday. Miller had surgery on the same shoulder last year.
All three will miss the team’s offseason program. The Bears hope they can return by training camp.
Burton infamously missed the Bears’ playoff game against the Eagles after waking up with a groin area that felt “locked up.” He had offseason surgery but came back in training camp. Pace said he wasn’t rushed back.
“Injuries, especially with him, [are] a fluid process,” Pace said. “Like, what’s happening and just working together through all that. And so we’re optimistic this is what it is, we’re going to see a benefit from it. Hopefully we’ve solved it. We all know the type of player he can be when he’s healthy, and we’re optimistic this hopefully fixed it.”
