Wootten out 4 weeks

Bears DE Wootton out 4 weeks with meniscus damage in knee
Will have arthroscopic surgery on Tuesday
By Vaughn McClure, Tribune reporter

8:20 p.m. CDT, August 14, 2011

Chicago Bears defensive end Corey Wootton is expected to miss at least four weeks with meniscus damage in his right knee, according to multiple league sources.

He will have arthroscopic surgery on Tuesday.

The second-year player from Northwestern was injured on the opening kickoff of Saturday's 10-3 exhibition win over the Buffalo Bills. He ran down in coverage following Robbie Gould's kick and appeared to plant wrong after being blocked by Buffalo's Bryan Scott. He missed the rest of the game.

Wootton left Soldier Field without crutches and had an MRI on Sunday. All indications are he did not suffer any ACL damage.

With Wootton expected to be shelved for the rest of the preseason, getting him healthy for the regular-season rotation is the goal. The Bears open the season with a Sept. 11 home matchup with the Atlanta Falcons.

Wootton had been a standout during training camp, and defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli praised Wootton for reporting to camp in tip-top shape. The defensive end came on at the end of his rookie season, knocking former Vikings quarterback Brett Favre out of a Dec. 20 game at the University of Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium.

With Wootton sidelined, newcomer Vernon Gholston has a better chance of making the team as a reserve defensive end behind starters Julius Peppers and Israel Idonije.

Tribune reporter Brad Biggs contributed

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports...0,816372.story

With only 3 DE's on the roster from last years team why in the hell did they have Wootton covering a kickoff instead of Gholston or one of the rookies in a preseason game. I swear this coaching staff does some of the dumbest shit I've ever seen. The guy came into the league with a knee problem that looked like he finally getting past late last year and now he has to rehab all over again. So that's two of our Dlineman who'll be coming off meniscus tears now. WTF are they thinking using Wootton on ST's?

Thank, God. It looked pretty bad, so while I would have preferred no serious injury (duh), looking at what went down and my thoughts just a couple hours ago, I'm more than happy with this outcome.

If Ghoulston really isn't worth being on the team, I hope this doesn't mean we have to keep a scrub around...

heaven forbid a guy you pay to play football actually go out and play football lest he be hurt...

are you kidding me with that?... it HAPPENS. its GOING TO HAPPEN. its PART OF THE GAME.

if all anyone is gonna do around here is find crap to complain about...at least make it something WORTH complaining about....

:rolleyes:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GrizzlyBear91

heaven forbid a guy you pay to play football actually go out and play football lest he be hurt...

are you kidding me with that?... it HAPPENS. its GOING TO HAPPEN. its PART OF THE GAME.

if all anyone is gonna do around here is find crap to complain about...at least make it something WORTH complaining about....

:rolleyes:

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Oh for crap sake WTF is up with you today? Yeah, I can accept an injury that takes place in the process of his playing his primary position but not one that takes place needlessly playing ST in a meaningless preseason game for cryin' out loud. When he's your 3rd DE and part of the game rotation you don't risk him on ST in my book. That's what I'm pissed about and you should be too!

They've got three other DE's fighting for the 4th spot; Reed, Addison, and Gholston, so why wasn't one of them covering kicks in a preseason game as opposed to Wootton? Tell me that you think that was smart on Lovies part Grizz!

Maybe cause like all pre-season games, since he's not listed as a starter they have every intention of using him on ST like we did with Idonije and many other linemen....

if he's on the roster and not listed as a starter, there is a good chance he's gonna help on ST's and toub probably wanted to get a good look at some guys who could help our ST's game...

and for a team that's been so dominate in that category I don't see why we WOULDN'T have him on ST....

without the injury nobody even asks the question.... I like Wooton just as much as anyone else... I don't think players "shouldn't" do this... or "shouldn't do that" for ANY reason.

He's not a starter. regardless of how good we all think he can be.... facts are facts, and he's a ST player. and that's what he was doing...

Get the Fark over it already.

I understand the need for another Izzy on ST. Now that Wootton has proven brittle I don't think we will see him on ST anymore. It's a fine line to find good ST backups and backups that are specialists only. At least he will be back soon.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GrizzlyBear91

Maybe cause like all pre-season games, since he's not listed as a starter they have every intention of using him on ST like we did with Idonije and many other linemen....

if he's on the roster and not listed as a starter, there is a good chance he's gonna help on ST's and toub probably wanted to get a good look at some guys who could help our ST's game...

and for a team that's been so dominate in that category I don't see why we WOULDN'T have him on ST....

without the injury nobody even asks the question.... I like Wooton just as much as anyone else... I don't think players "shouldn't" do this... or "shouldn't do that" for ANY reason.

He's not a starter. regardless of how good we all think he can be.... facts are facts, and he's a ST player. and that's what he was doing...

Get the Fark over it already.

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I'm over IT but I still don't agree that Wootoon should be going down on kicks in pre-fvcking-season! Izzy wasn't part of a DE rotation that was only three deep when he covered kicks either. Any way it's cut I'm not convinced that it wasn't a dumb move to take a guy whose been tearing it up in camp and a major part of your pass rush rotation and have him on kick coverage unit now. The circumstance didn't warrant it.

Having a guy who's clearly making the team as a valued rotational player (and prob future starter) cover ST in a PS game when there were plenty of other less valueable options does seems kind of dumb to me. Thankfully his injury is minor and he should be back by early RS. Would have looked really freakin' stupid if Wooten had torn his ACL and was out for the year doing meaningless ST work in a meaningless game. [I say "meaningless" because there was doubt Woo was easily making the roster no matter what he did or didn't do on ST.]

Our very excellent DL is less deep at DE than we are at DT. Someone with knowledge of the roster rules please tell me--how does this work now? Do we get to keep 2 of the 3 remaining backup DE options while Wooten heals up? And then release 1 of those 2 when He's reactivated?

Looks like Ghoulston just made the team...at least temporarily.