Chicago Bears WR Luther Burden III made curious decision amid soft tissue injury

During practices last week with Caleb Williams, Rome Odunze, and rookies, Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson voiced his concerns about Luther Burden III missing practices during OTAs this spring. The No. 39 pick in April’s draft suffered a soft tissue injury during rookie minicamp and hasn’t practiced since.

Johnson was frustrated by Burden, who still hasn’t signed his rookie contract, spending time in the training facility instead of being present on the practice field this spring.

“He misses a lot,” Johnson said of Burden. “I mean, anytime you’re not out there, if you’re in the training room when the rest of the guys are practicing, you’re losing valuable time, valuable time with your coaches, valuable reps with your teammates, the ability to build the trust that we’re talking about. It’s not just the coaching staff having trust in you doing the right thing over and over, but it’s also your teammates.

“They got to be out there. They got to see you do it. They got to know that the guy right, left of them, that they’re going to do the right things and they’re going to make the plays when called upon.”

Luther Burden threw the first pitch at a Chicago White Sox game

While Burden is behind on building chemistry with Williams, the former Missouri Tigers standout has spent time going to baseball games with rookies. He was pictured with Bears teammates at a Chicago Cubs game before throwing the first pitch at the Chicago White Sox game at Rate Field on Tuesday night.

Da Bears Da Sox https://t.co/wj4i7TygP8 pic.twitter.com/Kc2bhI7Lu5

— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) June 18, 2025

Another puzzle for Chicago Bears fans

Burden’s decision to throw the pitch is interesting, given his inability to practice at Halas Hall this spring. Johnson said Burden would be at practice for the start of training camp, but did not confirm the wide receiver would be healthy enough to participate.

Because Burden suffered an injury during rookie minicamp by falling awkwardly on the football, there was speculation online that the soft tissue ailment might have been an oblique issue, the same injury that initially put Cubs’ pitcher Porter Hodge on the injured list.

Based on the video of the first pitch, that doesn’t seem to be a problem with Burden.

By throwing the first pitch, Burden invited more curiosity about what is going on with him and the Bears at Halas Hall this offseason, especially given pre-draft criticisms about his “practice habits” at Missouri.

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