Bears' Lance Briggs missed practice to attend a restaurant opening

Lance Briggs wasn't at Bears practice Monday, but don't worry, he had a totally legitimate excuse. 

Briggs owns a restaurant, the Double Nickel Smokehouse, in his hometown of Elk Grove, California, so head coach Marc Trestman let him play hooky to attend the grand opening. 

Or did he? Trestman was oddly evasive about the reason he excused Briggs. 

“I’m not going to speak for him with what he’s doing today,” Trestman said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. “I can tell you that I excused him and that this is something that now took place a long time ago. Where he’s gone is between him and the reasons that he had to go. But it was good by me.”

The Bears are off Tuesday, so Briggs will be able to get back to Chicago in time for Wednesday's practice and Sunday's game against the Bills. Hopefully he won't gorge himself on too much barbecue.

- Dan Gartland