The road to recovery has been anything but smooth for Chicago Bears tight end Trey Burton.
Burton missed the season opener against the Green Bay Packers as he continued to deal with a mild groin strain that has plagued him over the past couple of weeks.
He finds himself itching to get back on the field after his ongoing recovery that he called “a really humbling process.”
Burton, who has been a limited participant in practice, felt good on Thursday, but that’s not always the case.
“Waking up every day I just don’t know how I’m going to feel,” he said. “Obviously I would like to feel really good. Mentally I can’t sit on the bench any longer, but my body hasn’t caught up to that.”
Burton had surgery to repair a sports hernia in the offseason, which he had recovered from before this new groin sprain emerged.
He was questionable last week against the Packers, where he took to the field during warmups before the Bears ultimately decided to hold him out.
Matt Nagy has been optimistic, yet non-committal about Burton’s status for Sunday against the Broncos,
“He did have a good day yesterday [in practice], which is good,” Nagy said Thursday. “When we get to the weekend, we’ll see where he’s at.”
Nagy said Burton doesn’t necessarily have to practice in full to be a go for Sunday.
“It’s just based on how I feel,” Burton said. “I’ve never had to be honest about how I’m feeling. I’ve been able to push through it my whole life. Part of that is being undrafted and not being able to afford being injured. I’m having to be honest with what’s going on and take it from there.”
Burton was once again limited during Thursday’s practice, as the Bears prep for the Broncos on Sunday.
Nose tackle Eddie Goldman did not practice on Thursday as he continues to nurse an oblique injury sustained during Wednesday’s practice. Nagy believes he should be good to go for Sunday.
Offensive lineman Rashaad Coward was once again a full participant in practice after sustaining an elbow injury back on August 16.
