Bears' Luther Burden III sidelined with groin injury: Here's when breakout candidate could return

The Chicago Bears experienced a scary moment during Saturday's practice when second-year wideout Luther Burden III and cornerback Tyrique Stevenson suffered injuries after a one-on-one rep in the red zone. Stevenson felt good enough to return to practice, while Burden did not. He was spotted walking gingerly toward the locker room with trainers. 

CBS Sports' Matt Zenitz reports that Burden suffered a groin injury and is expected to miss about a month. The Bears hope he can return for the Sept. 13 season opener against the Carolina Panthers.

With DJ Moore in Buffalo, Burden is expected to headline Caleb Williams' receiving corps along with Rome Odunze. With Burden sidelined, Zavion Thomas and Jahdae Walker should be in line to receive more reps.

Burden missing the entire preseason is not ideal, but it could have been much worse. Chicago has high hopes for its former No. 39 overall pick this year, and head coach Ben Johnson said earlier this offseason that he's "buying stock" in him. 

"Just how he's approached his offseason, it's been electric," Johnson said. "He showed up yesterday, he had numerous explosive plays. I loved how in Phase 2 he was finishing every single rep that he took, and that really translated over to yesterday as well. So, he's in a really good spot. He's still developing and growing his route tree ... 

"He's been extremely coachable, so I'm really happy with him."

In his first NFL season, Burden caught 47 passes for 652 yards and two touchdowns in 15 games played. He missed two games with a concussion and an ankle issue. Burden ranked third among wide receivers in yards per route run with 2.71 (min. 200 routes), trailing only Offensive Player of the Year Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Puka Nacua. According to CBS Sports Research, those 2.71 yards per route run were the most by a rookie wide receiver in the past 10 seasons. 

Most yards per route run by a rookie WR in the past 10 years

The CBS Sports Fantasy Football team ranks Burden as WR27, projecting he will catch 73 passes for 1,057 yards and six touchdowns in 2026.