Caleb Williams embraces opportunity for extra reps at Bears last voluntary OTAs <\/a><\/p>\nThe former Michigan Wolverine has recovered enough from an AC joint injury that required surgery to do everything but (maybe) throw a football with his right arm.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve become ambidextrous, kind of,\u201d Loveland said with a laugh after practice.<\/p>\n
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Outside of the action on the practice fields at Halas Hall, Loveland said he\u2019s also back to lifting weights as a part of the Bears\u2019 offseason training program, but Johnson wouldn\u2019t commit to whether his prized rookie tight end will be fully ready to go once training camp rolls around in mid-late July.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be honest with you, I haven\u2019t even looked that far ahead,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWe will get that before we officially break for summer, just the expectation for camp and who\u2019s going to be full-go day one, and who is still limited and working in. I don\u2019t have that answer for you at this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Loveland, as can be expected, was a little more optimistic about his chances than his head coach, but he\u2019s still taking things one day at a time with a certain set of goals in mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust work. Get back right, continue rehab. I\u2019m working out,\u201d Loveland said. \u201cBut, [I] definitely have my own little walkthroughs, whether I need to go with my brother or whoever that is, saying some plays, lining up, just doing stuff repetitively [and] getting those reps so that it just becomes second-nature at that point. That\u2019s the goal.\u201d<\/p>\n
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If he checks all the boxes he\u2019s identified, he thinks he\u2019ll be ready for day 1 of training camp.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the plan. Just working every day to get there,\u201d Loveland said.<\/p>\n
As for the Bears\u2019 first pick in the second round, Luther Burden III, he\u2019s seen the practice field only a handful more times than Loveland this offseason.<\/p>\n
Burden suffered what Johnson called a \u201csoft tissue injury\u201d during rookie minicamp that led to him being unavailable during the portions of minicamp and offseason OTAs made available to local media.<\/p>\n
Chicago\u2019s rookie head coach isn\u2019t concerned about Burden\u2019s long-term future though when it comes to that soft tissue injury. He expects him to be a full go once training camp rolls around.<\/p>\n
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What Johnson is more concerned about is the reps rookies like Burden and Loveland are missing due to their injuries.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Burden] misses a lot. Any time you\u2019re not out there, if you\u2019re in the training room when the rest of the guys are practicing, you\u2019re losing valuable time\u2014valuable time with your coaches, valuable reps with your teammates, the ability to build the trust that we\u2019re talking about,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cIt\u2019s not just the coaching staff having trust in you, doing the right thing over and over, but it\u2019s also your teammates.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have to be out there. They have to see you do it. They have to know that the guy to the right and the left of them are going to do the right things, and they\u2019re going to make the plays when called upon. It\u2019s for everybody. It\u2019s a shame that he got dinged up and missed all that time, because for a young player, it\u2019s really where you get the most reps and you can get better in a hurry that way. That\u2019s really for every player on this team.\u201d<\/p>\n
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