The Bears escaped Tampa Bay with a win in Week 9, but the final stretch came with a hit that could linger. Late in Sunday night’s game, Luther Burden III coughed up the ball inside Chicago territory after taking a heavy shot to the head, giving the Buccaneers a chance to tie things up.
After the game, the update on Burden was the one Chicago was bracing for. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the receiver has a concussion and is now in concussion protocol after the helmet-to-helmet hit.
“Bears WR Luther Burden III suffered a concussion late in Sunday night’s win over Tampa Bay, now in concussion protocol,” Schefter reports.
It’s a tough break for a player who had been surging. Burden has been one of the biggest bright spots for Chicago this season, and his numbers through nine games already dwarf what he did as a rookie.
He has 49 catches on 65 targets, both career highs, for 644 yards and four touchdowns. That’s already twice as many touchdowns as he had in his first season, and he’s only eight yards away from matching last year’s yardage total.
The good news for Chicago is that the timing could help. The Bears have a bye in Week 10, which gives Burden two weeks to work through protocol before a Week 11 return becomes an issue.
That said, nothing is automatic with a concussion. Burden could end up missing no game time at all, but he’s not guaranteed to be ready once the Bears come back from the break. His progress will be one of the key things to watch during the bye week.
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Instead, the offense kept leaving points on the field, and the postgame frustration landed on both the execution and the decision-making around it. Todd Bowles and Zac Robinson now have to answer for an attack that could not cash in on rare defensive help, and the latest loss only sharpened the scrutiny on how this group is being managed when the game is there to be taken. [Read more 🡒]