Luther Burden III set to miss some time with a groin injury, depleting Bears’ already thin WR depth

Chicago Bears wide receiver Luther Burden III is expected to miss some time as he recovers from a groin injury, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Burden III went down awkwardly in practice on Saturday and was seen leaving early with a trainer. While the good news was that the wideout was able to walk off under his own power, he was still walking gingerly.

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It looked like a lower-body issue, and now we know it is a groin injury. These issues can be problematic and easily aggravated, so the Bears may be a little more cautious with his recovery. The good news is that Chicago’s regular season start is over a month away, giving Burden III time to recover.

The biggest problem in the interim is that without Burden III, the Bears’ wide receiver depth looks very thin.

Chicago opted to trade away veteran wide receiver DJ Moore to the Buffalo Bills in the offseason. This put a lot of pressure and faith into the Bears’ young wide receiver foundation in Rome Odunze and Burden III.

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With Burden III now sidelined, Chicago has a glaring lack of depth at wide receiver. Odunze is clearly the top wide receiver, but currently he is joined by Kalif Raymond, Zavion Thomas, Jahdae Walker and Scotty Miller as the best options at the position.

Odunze is heading into his third season. Last year, he played in 12 games and finished with 661 yards and six touchdowns.

Raymond spent the last five years with the Detroit Lions, but jumped ship and signed with the Bears this offseason. The 5-8 receiver played in 15 games last year, but finished with 289 yards and a touchdown.

The Bears drafted Thomas in the third round of the 2026 NFL Draft. He spent his final two years of his college career at LSU after beginning at Mississippi State. Thomas played in 13 games for the Tigers last season and finished with 488 yards and four touchdowns.

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Walker went undrafted last year, but landed with Chicago. He saw action in nine games and finished his rookie season with 87 yards and two touchdowns on six receptions.

Miller is another veteran option for Chicago. He spent the last two seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Miller played in 13 games last year and had just 62 yards on nine receptions.

The Bears’ wide receiving group was already expected to be inexperienced, but losing the talent of Burden III for the foreseeable future definitely hurts.

Quarterback Caleb Williams will rely on Odune, running back D’Andre Swift and tight ends Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet as his main options while Burden III is sidelined unless one of the depth wide receivers steps up.