Bears Hoping Surgeries Solve Problem Areas

Roquan Smith, Anthony Miller, tight ends and possibly Mitchell Trubisky are injury concerns when Bears return for offseason work.

LAKE FOREST, Ill. – A mediocre 2019 Bears season was preceded by an offseason when several players couldn't participate in spring drills at Halas Hall.

It doesn't sound like 2020 will be much better in this regard.

Bears linebacker Roquan Smith already had his pectoral muscle surgery, then was uninjured Tuesday morning when his Mercedes-Benz went out of control on an icy road and hit a traffic pole at Route 60 and Field Drive in Lake Forest.

Bears general manager Ryan Pace said the goal is to have Smith ready to play by training camp, meaning he'll miss spring conditioning, organized team activities and minicamp at Halas Hall.

Earlier this year Smith missed a game due to a "personal issue" and then suffered the pectoral muscle tear against Dallas.

It's still possible quarterback Mitchell Trubisky could have left shoulder surgery, according to Pace, but this has yet to be determined. His status for offseason work would have to be reassessed then. 

Trubisky suffered his injury against the Minnesota Vikings on a sack early in the game. He sat out the rest of the game and the next one in London before returning for the duration and playing through it.

Wide receiver Anthony Miller is going to need surgery on his left shoulder for the second time in two seasons after he was injured on a kick return Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings. He was returning the kick because Cordarrelle Patterson already had gone out of the game with a concussion.

Miller is on the same timeline for a return as Smith.  He missed all of last year's offseason work when he injured the left shoulder for the first time, and then aggravated it in the 2018 regular-season finale at Minnesota.

A perpetual injury issue for the Bears this season has been the tight end position with their first three tight ends finishing on injured reserve. Pace said starting U-tight end Trey Burton underwent a hip surgery earlier in the season. 

He had a sports hernia surgery last year and never recovered in time to get to 100 percent health before going on injured reserve with another injury.

"Injuries, especially with him, is a fluid process," Pace said.

Burton won't be rushed back to offseason practices. He'll be on his own pace again. The absence of their starting tight ends due to injuries was critical in 2019.

"So we're optimistic," Pace said. "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. We're optimistic this hopefully fixed it."

Pace said tight end Adam Shaheen will be back with the team for the final year of his rookie contract. Their second-round 2017 draft pick suffered through a series of injuries, and has been limited to 27 of a possible 48 games his first three seasons. This year he went on IR with a foot problem.

"I think what's hurt his development, especially being small school (Ashland), is the time he missed," Pace said. "When he's played, we've liked what we have seen. He just hasn't put it out there long enough.

"We talked to him about that. We're frustrated. He's frustrated. He needs to stay healthy to continue to develop as a young player."

While the Bears are understanding of the injury situation, they also could obtain another tight end instead of leaving it up to injury chance this time.

"I think availability really with both of our tight ends, let's be real, with Trey and Adam, not having those guys hurt our offense," Pace said. "Matt talks all the time about the importance of the tight end position to our offense. We lost two tight ends this year. 

"We have to be honest with ourselves. Availability is critical in our league. We have to protect ourselves as a franchise, too. That's something we'll look at."

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