It’s the same old story for former Chicago Bears tight end Trey Burton, whose redemption story in Indianapolis was cut temporarily short when he was placed on injured reserve on Monday.
Burton, who signed with the Colts after being released by Chicago, suffered a calf injury during the Colts’ second training camp scrimmage on Aug. 29. Colts head coach Frank Reich originally thought Burton would miss the first two weeks, but they’re working on determining a more realistic return.
The #Colts placed former #Bears tight end Trey Burton on IR.
— Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) September 7, 2020
While Burton would normally have to wait eight weeks before being permitted to rejoin the active roster, this year those on IR only have to sit out three games before they can return to practice. The team still has 21 days to decide whether to return that player to the active roster or send them back to IR for the rest of the season.
Chicago signed Burton to a four-year, $32 million contract, which included $22 million guaranteed, back in 2018. While Burton had a career-best season with the Bears in 2018 — 54 catches for 569 receiving yards and six touchdowns — it was ultimately his lack of availability that was his downfall.
But it wasn’t just Burton who struggled at tight end in 2019. The Bears essentially cleared house following last year’s disappointing effort, with J.P. Holtz the only survivor that remains on the 53-man roster.
Lucky for the Bears, there have been rave reviews about their tight ends in veteran Jimmy Graham and rookie Cole Kmet throughout training camp. Matt Nagy even went as far to call the tight ends room a “strength” for this team. Mitchell Trubisky, who was named the team’s starting quarterback. will certainly benefit from having two big tight ends to target.
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