Luther Burden III's groin injury wipes out his Bears preseason

Luther Burden III's second training camp just took a hit. The Bears second-year receiver went down with what was quickly reported as a groin injury, and the fantasy world lit up before anyone even had real details on severity.

The injury news started as a vague 'he's hurt, will miss time' report and then got firmed up fast. Per Adam Schefter, Burden strained his groin and is expected to miss the entire preseason, though the Bears believe he'll be ready for the regular-season opener against the Panthers.

That's a real gut punch for a guy who was supposed to use this camp to take a step forward. Burden was Chicago's second-round pick in the 2025 draft out of Missouri, where he racked up 192 catches for 2,263 yards and 21 touchdowns over three seasons and earned back-to-back First-Team All-SEC nods. His rookie year in the NFL was quieter — 47 catches, 652 yards, two touchdowns across 15 games — but plenty of analysts pegged him as a breakout candidate for year two before this setback.

The fantasy community reacted about how you'd expect: with dread. Draft boards had Burden climbing after a solid rookie debut, and now there's a real chance he starts the year rusty or limited, having missed every rep of camp and preseason football.

Burden's injury also landed in the middle of a genuinely brutal week for skill-position health across the league, with names like Christian McCaffrey, JK Dobbins, DeVonta Smith and Rashee Rice all popping up on the same injury radar. It's the kind of stretch that makes every fantasy draft feel like a minefield.

For now, the Bears are staying optimistic that a month on the shelf still leaves enough runway to get Burden ready for Week 1 against Carolina on Sept. 13. But 'expected to be ready' and 'actually ready' are two different things, and until he's logging real reps again, both Chicago and fantasy managers are stuck waiting.