Knox placed on PUP list Injured wide receiver says he's improving By
Brad Biggs, Chicago Tribune reporter 7:22 p.m. CDT, July 25, 2012
BOURBONNAIS — The Bears made a move anticipated for months when they placed
Johnny Knox on the active-physically unable to perform list Wednesday, meaning the wide receiver failed his physical.
Knox is not eligible to practice until he's elevated from the PUP list, something that can happen at any point before the start of the regular season. He still is recovering from spinal fusion surgery that was required after a devastating hit Dec. 18 against the Seahawks.
It's impossible to say if Knox will play this season but the fourth-year veteran said he's improving.
"I don't have that same burst that I used to have, but that's to be expected with this injury," he said. "But I'm jogging and moving around pretty good.
"There's really no timetable. We're all taking our time on this. They're not rushing me, I'm not rushing myself. This was a serious injury, so we're all taking our time on this. Right now, I'm setting small goals, taking a little bit at a time. At first, I knew it was going to be hard to run. But now I'm running better than I thought I would. I'm getting my weight back a little more, doing heavier weights in the weight room. So doing good."
With speed such a vital part of Knox's game, it might be difficult for the Bears to elevate him to the active roster during the season. If Knox still is on the list when the season begins, he will have to be inactive for at least the first six weeks.
After that, the Bears would have three weeks in which he could begin practicing before a determination on his eligibility would have to be made. The good thing for him right now is that clock doesn't have to start until early November.
Emery's stamp: Looking for an imprint from new general manager
Phil Emery during training camp? It could be the conditioning tests players had to take Wednesday afternoon in 99-degree heat.
It's the first time in nine summers under coach
Lovie Smith the Bears have had a mandatory running test at the start of camp. Emery was a strength and conditioning coach in college before he became a pro scout. No word yet if every player received a passing grade.
Rookie success: Jay Cutler has had success with rookie wide receivers before, throwing to
Eddie Royal in 2008 when the Broncos' draft pick made 91 catches for 980 yards. Royal is a different type of player than Bears' second-round pick
Alshon Jeffery but the quarterback thinks he knows what the key is to a promising first season for the South Carolina product.
"Less is more with him," Cutler said. "We're going to put him in positions where he can be successful. ... Whenever you start putting these guys in positions where they have to move around, where they have to think a lot, it just slows them down. They already have enough on their plates."
Jeffery is a big body at 6-foot-3, 216 pounds, and the club has talked about using him as a weapon in the red zone.
"We'll throw him in there and let him do what he's naturally capable of doing, which is go up and get the ball, get out of breaks quick," Cutler said. "He can help us in different ways."
The Bears have made the mistake of overloading rookie receivers in the past, one of the reasons Earl Bennett's growth was stunted in 2008 when he barely got on the field. The club forced him to learn all three receiver positions at once and that was too much for any player.
Extra points: Middle linebacker
Brian Urlacher says his knee is feeling good and he only will be on the sideline for the occasional veteran days off that Smith puts into the schedule. …
Tyler Clutts knows he faces a challenge to make the roster based on
Mike Tice's preference in the past to use versatile tight ends and go without a fullback. "I want to show why they need to carry a fullback," Clutts said. … Bennett
looks like he has added considerable upper body strength in the offseason.
bmbiggs@tribune.com
