Chicago Bears wide receiver Chase Claypool remains sidelined at the Chicago Bears' mandatory minicamp this week following injury-related absences from the last two rounds of Bears OTAs.
It's a concerning development for a player who needs as many reps as possible with QB Justin Fields to build chemistry ahead of the 2023 season.
Claypool is being held out with what the Bears call a "soft-tissue injury." No specifics beyond that have been provided.
“I think any time that you’re not on the grass doing, it’s not as good, obviously,” Eberflus said Tuesday. “He started off getting some work, and then he had some setbacks. He’s been working mentally into that. But again, it’s not the same. You’re not doing it.”
Claypool joined the Chicago Bears at the 2022 trade deadline but was mostly ineffective last season. He had just 14 catches for 140 yards and zero touchdowns in seven games. His lack of production was excused because of his brief time in the Bears' system. But that excuse won't hold water in 2023. If Claypool can't stay on the field, he'll be dubbed an injury-prone miss by GM Ryan Poles.
"What’s great about this time of year is we have the luxury of him working with the trainers," Eberflus said. "He’s not in a time crunch, and we can get him fully healthy working into the summer because we have 40 days when we break from here to get ready for that report at training camp [in late July].”
It's hard to believe what Eberflus is selling with his suggestion that Claypool isn't in a time crunch. Every missed practice rep is a missed chance to get on the same page as Fields. The Bears based almost all of their offseason decisions around making Fields' job easier. Having an assimilated Chase Claypool is a big part of that.
For now, all we can do is wait to see if Claypool gets back on the field this week or at worst, by the time training camp rolls around. If his injuries continue to linger into July and August, the odds he makes a big impact in 2023 will drop significantly.