Injury Costly for Bears and Dazz Newsome
Losing rookie Dazz Newsome from now until about the first week of training camp has an impact on possible Bears plans for the wide receiver group.
Coach Matt Nagy on Wednesday said Newsome fell to the turf and injured his shoulder at OTAs. He had it in a sling at practice. Later, NFL Network reported it as a broken collarbone and that it could mean eight or nine weeks before he'd be able to resume work again.
With eight or nine weeks away, Newsome will miss all of the rest of OTAs and also minicamp. He might even miss a week of training camp. It's a time when a rookie can gain valuable on-field insight into how to play his position.
Newsome also was expected to be a primary competitor for punt returner. Punt returner Tarik Cohen suffered a torn ACL last year and it's unknown whether the Bears will want him to continue this hazardous duty considering how important he is as a catching/rushing threat in the offense.
Cohen was at practice on Wednesday but did not suit up with the team. He is still undergoing rehab from the injury.
The team had hoped Newsome would compete with Anthony Miller and Damiere Byrd for the slot position. If they were keeping Newsome as a punt returner, it would be imperative that he also serve as a backup receiver.
A great deal of speculation had built up prior to the draft about Miller being traded because of a report by ESPN's Adam Schefter saying the Bears were shopping him around the league.
Now it's open for Byrd and Miller, and possibly Marquise Goodwin, although he fits more into the Z-receiver position on the outside.
So, it's safe not to anticipate Miller getting traded until at least the end of camp, if then. They would need a good read on Newsome's potential before making a deal and might not get one due to the injury.
"When you talk about Dazz you understand that that's a position he plays where we feel like it's probably some of the most depth that we have at a position and we feel he's just going to add to that," Nagy said prior to the injury.
Two weeks ago at rookie camp Nagy pointed out the fact rookies would now get fewer play reps at practices and would need to learn to adapt with "mental reps" while watching plays from the side.
For Newsome, now it's going to be all mental reps, and then hoping he can compete against veterans without having much on-field exposure to the offense after he's finally deemed healthy enough to return.
It's the kind of setback a rookie can't afford if they expect to remain competitive in a crowded position battle.
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven
