Brandon Marshall assures Chicago Bears fans his hip is fine

Bears wide receiver Brandon Marshall made some waves last week when he said that he was frustrated by the state of his recovery from hip surgery and by the fact that he was “being pushed a little bit” to practice and play in the preseason. A veteran receiver, naturally eyebrows were raised and questions were asked about Marshall’s ability to hold up for the entire 203 season if his hip was already bothering him.

Marshall then took a four-day excused absence from the team that extend through the weekend that didn’t help matters as Bears fans began to sweat out Marshall’s injury status. Marshall returned to the team on Monday and told reporters that he had a checkup on his hip that seems to have lessened some of the negative feelings he expressed last week.

“I’m always concerned about my body. It doesn’t matter if it’s a little scratch, I’m always concerned,” Marshall said, via Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune. “So coming off my third hip surgery, structurally, everything is good. The joint is in amazing shape. So that’s exciting.”

Marshall’s production in 2012 was on course with the numbers you would expect from one of the game’s best possession targets. 118 catches, 1,508 yards and 11 touchdowns gave Jay Cutler plenty of production despite Chicago missing the playoffs it wasn’t due to the play of Marshall.

Now with a new coach in Marc Trestman who has won championships in the CFL not too long ago, Chicago is eyeing a return to the playoffs in a very tough NFC North. If the Bears are going to outlast the Lions, Packers, and Vikings this fall and winter they will need Marshall’s hip to be as good as advertised.