Brian Urlacher returned to Bears training camp on Saturday after a week away from the team, but his left knee still isn’t feeling good enough for him to practice.
Urlacher spoke to the media Sunday and confirmed that he was away from camp to deal with personal issues and not to get his sore left knee evaluated by other doctors. He said he’s working with the team’s medical staff to fix the problem, but admits that he isn’t sure when he will be able to return to practice. Not that he’s much concerned with that.
“September 9th I’ll be ready to play for sure. That’s really all that matters to me,” Urlacher said, via Zach Zaidman of the Bears’ radio broadcasting team. “I’d love to be out there, but I’m not going to put myself in jeopardy of missing the first game.”
Urlacher said his knee is feeling better after the break from practice, although it’s hard to say what that means for the future because he hasn’t been running or driving off of it. He did say he wasn’t concerned that the injury would linger because he felt confident in the ability of the medical staff to monitor his reps and keep him healthy once he does get back to work.
The Bears signed a pair of linebackers on Saturday, but Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune reports that wasn’t because of doubts about Urlacher’s ability to play this year. Dom DeCicco and Jabara Williams are out at the position and the Bears felt they needed more bodies to take their place. Per Biggs, the team remains confident Urlacher will be ready to go in the season opener.