Tag: Zach Miller

Former Bears TE Zach Miller reveals his leg is still numb after career-ending injury

Former Bears TE Zach Miller admits there are still lingering effects from the brutal knee injury that ended his career.

Former Chicago Bears tight end Zach Miller hasn’t played a snap of football since suffering his horrific career-ending knee injury in 2017 against the New Orleans Saints. Now nearly four years later, he reveals he still can’t feel his leg from the knee down to his foot.

Speaking with 670 The Score’s Parkins and Spiegel on Thursday afternoon, the former tight end turned country music star said he’s doing well, but admits there are still lingering effects from the the injury:

“I’m fine. Life is good for me. I have a wife and kids at home, everything is good. Physically, yeah I got issues. As far as where we’re at in today’s day and age, my leg’s numb from the knee down. I’ve got drop foot, blah, blah, blah. That’s just kind of where I’m at. I can get around and do my thing but I don’t want to turn that into a pity party for me.”

Miller went on to say he’s still continuing to progress with his recovery, particularly with his foot.

“I got I’d say close to 50% of motion back in my foot to be able to walk without wearing the AFO brace that I used to wear to actually hold my foot up. That’s good and bad, I don’t have to wear the brace anymore, but I got some nerve damage and all of that stuff.”

The singer of songs such as “How Ya Like Us Now” and “I Was Hopin'”, admits the effects of the injury have prevented him from doing some activities such as coaching, but says he probably wouldn’t have turned to music if he was still playing football.

Miller joined the Bears in 2014 after spending four seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He worked his way up the depth chart to become one of the go-to weapons on the team from 2015-2017. During those three years, Miller caught 101 passes for 1,161 yards and 11 touchdowns, becoming a fan-favorite.

On Oct. 29, 2017, Miller attempted to catch a touchdown pass against the Saints, only to land awkwardly on his left knee. Miller suffered a dislocated knee and tore his popliteal artery. He was immediately taken to a nearby hospital where doctors performed emergency surgery in order to save his leg from being amputated and was hospitalized for weeks following the procedure. He was out for the year and missed all of the 2018 season before retiring in 2019.

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DK Metcalf sets NFL record with 160 receiving yards against Eagles

Seattle Seahawks rookie receiver DK Metcalf finished with 160 receiving yards on Sunday against the Eagles, a franchise playoff record.

The Seattle Seahawks advanced to the NFC divisional round following a hard-fought victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, 17-9, on Sunday afternoon.

The Seahawks won despite an atrocious running game, which saw Travis Homer and Marshawn Lynch combined for just 19 yards on 17 carries.

That forced Seattle to air the ball out more, and the biggest beneficiary was rookie receiver DK Metcalf, who finished with seven receptions (on nine targets) for 160 yards and a touchdown.

Metcalf’s 160 receiving yards was not only a career-high, it was a Seahawks franchise record for a playoff game, breaking the previous record of 142 held by tight end Zach Miller.

It is also the most by a rookie in a playoff game in the Super Bowl era.

Metcalf did most of his damage on a remarkable 53-yard touchdown reception that saw him go to the ground to catch the pass, get up and scramble his way into the end zone.

Metcalf’s record-breaking rookie season continues with Seattle’s trip to Green Bay to take on a 13-3 Packers team that is coming off a bye week.

Kickoff is slated for 3:40 p.m. PT.

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Deshaun Watson, Texans borrow trick play from Bears

The Texans borrowed a page out of the Bears’ playbook with a trick play in their win over the Patriots on Sunday night.

Chicago Bears fans watching the New England Patriots and the Houston Texans game on Sunday Night Football may have seen something that looked familiar when the Texans scored their final touchdown of the night.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, with the Texans leading the Patriots 21-9, quarterback Deshaun Watson and the Houston offense entered the redzone. On first-and-goal from the 6-yard line, Watson handed the ball to running back Duke Johnson, who then gave it to receiver DeAndre Hopkins on an end around, then pitched the ball back to Watson as he dove over the pylon for the touchdown.

The score put Houston up 28-9 and essentially sealed the game while fans were going nuts over the fake play they just saw. But Bears fans have seen this done before.

Back in 2017 during quarterback Mitchell Trubisky’s first NFL start against the Minnesota Vikings, the Bears ran a nearly identical fake play as a 2-point conversion following Trubisky’s first career touchdown pass. Trubisky handed the ball to running back Jordan Howard, who gave it to tight end Zach Miller, then pitched it back to Trubisky for two points.

Flashing back to the present, Watson wasn’t shy about revealing where he learned the play from following their 28-22 win.

“We were watching a game, and actually, I think it was Chicago that did it,” Watson revealed. “We brought it up, me and A.J. McCarron were looking at it, was watching film one day and was like ‘actually, we probably can run that.’ So we kind of through it out there to (offensive coordinator) Tim Kelly and OB (head coach Bill O’Brien) and Hop (Hopkins) saw it and Hop of course said ‘yeah, let’s do it, let’s do it.’ He was excited so we kept working on it, kept working on it, and we knew it was the perfect time once we got inside the 5 (yard line), it was going to come. It was good.”

This isn’t the first time a team took a specific play from the Bears. The Philadelphia Eagles’ famous “Philly Special” play from Super Bowl 52 that saw tight end Trey Burton throw a touchdown pass to quarterback Nick Foles against the Patriots was originally run by the Bears in 2016. Both plays were orchestrated by former offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains.

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