Nov. 24--Bears rookie receiver Kevin White joined his teammates on the field for the start of practice Tuesday afternoon. In the morning, the Bears began the 21-day window for him to practice. When it ends, they must either place him on the season-ending reserve/injured list or move him to the active roster.
White, who is currently on the reserve/physically-unable-to-perform list, now has three weeks to continue his recovery from the surgery he had Aug. 23 to repair the stress fracture in his left tibia.
After practice, he met with reporters at his locker. Here's the full Q
On how it felt to join his teammates on the practice field
"It felt real good. I haven't been out there since, like, August. It's good to be back. Just progressing and take it day by day. But it definitely was a good feeling being out there with those guys."
On the status of his rehabilitation and if it feels like everything is back to normal
"Not back to normal. Not just yet. But it's definitely better than it was two weeks ago, than it was last week. So just getting stronger, getting more comfortable with it. I guess that's all I can ask for."
On what he hopes to accomplish during the 21-day practice window
"Get a lot of my strength back in my quad. Just get comfortable with running routes again. Just being back out there, getting accustomed back to the game. Really just to be back playing with my guys."
On if there's any chance of him playing this season
"I hope so. There's a chance. I'm not closing the doors on anything. I've just got to be smart with it. If I'm feeling good and I'm ready to go, then I guess we'll have to see."
On if he's in any pain
"A little bit. A little discomfort here and there. But it's not excruciating pain like how it used to be."
On if it's difficult to be cautious during his recovery
"A little bit, yeah. I don't want to do something that would set me back. But I don't want to just not do anything at all and not progress. So a little bit of both."
On the difficulty of not being able to participate
"Real tough. Definitely the hardest thing I've had to go through thus far just because it's my first season missing due to injury."
On how mindful he must be of his stride and ensuring he's not developing any bad muscle memory
"Trainers and strength staff is working with me a lot, just getting my mechanics back. It's a little off, but not too far."
On the relief of not being placed on the season-ending reserve/injured list
"It was a big relief just because there's a chance I can come back and be out there helping us get some victories."
On whether he's running full speed
"I would like to say I'm running somewhere around that, but myself compared to how I used to run, no."
On if he has a sense of how realistic it is for him to be activated at some point this season
"Just taking it day by day. I would like for it to happen. If it don't happen, (I) got to roll with the punches."
On how his training camp setback affects how he and the club are handling his rehab now
"If we had known this was going to happen, we'd have gotten the surgery when we first knew about it. But there was a chance it could heal, so we took our shot and missed it."
On if he can feel the rod in his tibia
"Nah, more the screws. They get to me more than anything. The rod is fine."
