Brian Urlacher Undergoes Knee Surgery
By Josh Hill
Remember when the Bears said linebacker Brian Urlacher would be 100 percent healthy for training camp? Yeah, that was a lie.
The Chicago Bears have been adamant in their claims that Urlacher will be healthy for the 2012 season. Even with Urlachers missing the Bears preseason opener and consistently sitting on the sidelines at training camp, the Bears have said all is good in the Windy City.
Well, GM Phil Emery folded his hand today and admitted that the veteran linebacker underwent an arthroscopic debridement procedure on his left knee Tuesday.
Urlacher himself is stepping forward to admit that the knee won’t be 100 percent all season long, and thus he won’t be — in stark contrast to what the Bears have spoon fed fans all training camp long.
“(The knee is) probably going to be (an issue all season long).” Urlacher said. “I don’t see it getting any better during the season. We have to manage it, my reps in practice, and then get through Sunday.”
Emery is doing his best political impression and is blaming the former regime for the lateness of Urlacher’s surgery.
“As far as the procedure to the knee, I wasn’t here at the beginning of that,” Emery said. “I saw Brian when I came into the situation as someone who was actively rehabbing and working very hard and felt good, so that looks like that decision was a good decision.”
In fact Urlacher’s knee was so bad that he said practicing earlier in training camp had a negative effect on his knee and helped lead to the surgery that he had.
“Being out there for two and a half, three hours probably didn’t help, and running around,” he said. “But it’s practice, you gotta do it. I think just the shock of being out there so long and doing so many movements like that was too much for my knee.”
Urlacher began feeling soreness and swelling in his knee after early practices, which caused alarm for Bears brass and promted them to ease back on Urlacher’s involvement in camp. Everything has now come to a head with the surgery and Bears fans are back to square one with their beloved linebacker. It’s like a broken record for Chicago, hearing that Urlacher is going to miss time with an injury.
After promising that he’d be 100 percent for training camp, Urlacher’s new goal is to just be healthy for a week 1 matchup with the Andrew Luck led Colts.