Eddie Royal’s injury adds to Bears’ in-flux offense

SHARE Eddie Royal’s injury adds to Bears’ in-flux offense
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Bears receiver Eddie Royal missed Wednesday’s practice with a hip injury. (AP)

On Alshon Jeffery’s ninth day of being “day-to-day” with a mild calf strain, he got company: Marquess Wilson, who injured his right hamstring in Saturday’s exhibition game.

Wednesday, the group became a trio, when Eddie Royal, the third of the team’s three starting wide receivers, missed practice with a hip injury.

Count first-round pick Kevin White, who never participated in training camp because of a stress fracture of his left shin, and the trio becomes a quartet.

Bears coach John Fox said none of the three injuries “appear real long-term,” but the White injury fiasco — he was called “day-to-day” until the team announced surgery — makes any public statement dubious.

Fox said he couldn’t predict yet whether Royal, signed to a three-year, $15 million deal this offseason, would miss Saturday’s preseason dress rehearsal in Cincinnati.

The receiver placed himself in good company Wednesday: the list of Bears offensive players plagued by preseason injury.

Left tackle Jermon Bushrod returned to practice Wednesday while he battles a balky back, while Jordan Mills’ calf injury last week complicated an uphill battle against Charles Leno, Jr., for the starting right tackle spot.

The injuries add up to an offense in flux.

“I think, right now, we’ve got so many guys in and out of the huddle, I’m just trying to concentrate on my job,” quarterback Jay Cutler said after practice at Halas Hall. “And we’ll see how it all unfolds with ‘Bush’ and some of these other guys.

“Everyone’s working. We’re still kind of in training camp mode. We’ll start fine-tuning things as we go.”

With the team’s first cuts Tuesday and final ones four days later, time is running short.

Pro Bowl right guard Kyle Long said the offensive line’s chemistry hasn’t been affected by the constant change.

“We’re all in the same meeting rooms all the time,” Long said. “We’re all doing the same drills all the time.”

Bushrod’s back injury is something the Bears have “manage and monitor,” Fox said, and that could continue all season.

“Like a lot of veteran players, that’s kind of what we do,” Fox said. “(We) feel good about when he’s been out there and ready to go. He got some vet days throughout camp.

“I think our staff will do a good job of monitoring it and we’ll see how it holds up.”

There are no shortage of injuries to watch.

Follow me on Twitter @PatrickFinley

Email: pfinley@suntimes.com

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