Chicago Bears guard Kyle Long had surgery in December to address a neck problem that arose due to a lingering labrum issue in his shoulder.
In an interview with ESPN 1000 in Chicago, Long said he’ll also address the underlying labrum issue as part of multiple maintenance procedures expected this offseason.
“There’s going to be some work done with that for sure,” Long said of his shoulder issues, via Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune.
“I’ve got some minor standard-operating-procedure offseason stuff but nothing major.”
Long’s issues with his labrum began in the 2016 season. He injured his shoulder during the preseason and played with the issue throughout the season. Long bypassed having surgery on the shoulder and continued playing into this year before aggravating the injury in December.
Long missed eight games in 2016 and six games in 2017 after missing just one game over the first years of his career.
“You know what, I was so blessed early on to come out clean from so many hundreds and thousands of piles that I was in that it was going to catch up to me eventually,” Long said. “Every player goes through it. I just happened to have it all clumped together.”