Getty Bears running back Tarik Cohen was one of two players placed on the PUP list.
Tarik Cohen and Dazz Newsome aren’t going to be participating in the start of training camp for the Chicago Bears this year. The speedy duo have been placed on the physically unable to perform list, the team announced on June 25. Either could be activated at any time.
We have placed RB Tarik Cohen and WR Dazz Newsome on the PUP list.
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Cohen is still recovering from a torn ACL sustained Week 3 against the Atlanta Falcons last season, while Newsome, a sixth-round pick for Chicago this year, broke his collarbone at a rookie practice in early June.
Both are set to be key contributors in head coach Matt Nagy’s offense this year, but it’s not much of a surprise to see either placed on the PUP list at this stage.
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When Will Cohen Be Ready?
“The Bears remain hopeful that Cohen will be back at full health by the time the regular season starts in September,” Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Sun-Times reports. “But for now they are taking a cautious approach with the fifth-year veteran and won’t mix him back into practice action at the outset of training camp.”
The All-Pro punt returner/gadget back said this about his recovery from the ACL tear in an appearance on The HOT Seat Podcast last December:
“With this injury, it’s slow. There’s nothing I can do…I gotta just take it one day at a time … just do the things the trainers tell me to do. The main thing they’ve been telling me is, working at home by myself, trying to get my knee flexion, range of motion back, just constant repetition, and I feel like that’s just the hardest part. And then definitely the second hardest part is the pain — the pain when they’re bending my leg in physical therapy? That be the most excruciating pain I ever felt.”
There haven’t been any rumblings that Cohen’s injury is worse than initially reported. As Wiederer notes, the Bears are likely just being cautious with a very valuable offensive asset. He should be ready Week 1. If he’s not wearing a uniform on the sidelines by early September, there may be cause for concern. As of now, this was an expected move and likely just a precautionary one.
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Newsome Was Predicted to Return Around Start of Training Camp
Initially, Nagy said this about Newsome’s injury on June 2:
“Unfortunately, yesterday in practice he had a ball that he went up to get and he just landed hard on his shoulder and he ended up injuring his shoulder so he’ll be out for a little while. It’s unfortunate but the kid is tough as heck and bounced back up until we went in and looked at it and saw that it wasn’t too good. But he’s been in good spirits. He was here this morning and we’ll put together a game plan moving forward but that was Dazz.”
Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network said at the time of the injury in early June that it was a “clean break,” which landed Newsome’s recovery time at around eight weeks. He was expected to be ready “right around the start of” training camp, but that didn’t happen.
#Bears rookie WR Dazz Newsome broke his collarbone in practice Tuesday and will undergo surgery Thursday, per source. It’s a clean break, so the sixth-round pick from North Carolina is looking at an eight-week recovery and should be ready right around the start of training camp.
While he was taken in the later rounds, the recent departure of wideout Anthony Miller has left the WR3 slot wide open, and Newsome could have really used the time in training camp to get acclimated to the offense.
We’ll likely know more about the status of both players when Nagy speaks with the media on the first day of training camp July 27.
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