Bears Notes: Conte Still The Bears' Guy Despite Injuries
(CBS) Despite aggravating a left shoulder injury in Sunday's win at Atlanta that caused him to leave a game early for the fourth time in six contests this season, Bears safety Chris Conte remains entrenched as the team's starter, Chicago coach Marc Trestman said Monday.
"I can only tell you what I'm hearing from the doctors and trainers," Trestman said. "He hurt his shoulder yesterday. It was shoulder-related. He went in hard. (Linebacker Darryl) Sharpton came in from an odd angle and that all came to pass. I just feel bad for Chris. He's worked so hard, and he's had these situations that have come up and taken him out of games. Yesterday was just another aberration of things that have happened to him. He's played hard, and he's made some plays for us, but at the end of the day, he's had to come out of the game. I'm disappointed for him.
"As I said, he's our starter until the doctors and trainers say or that he feels that he's uncomfortable playing. That hasn't been the case. We'll see where he is in the next couple of days."
Conte will ease his way back into practice this week, Trestman added, after what's seemed like a never-ending string of setbacks. His status for next Sunday's game against the Dolphins remains uncertain.
In Week 2 and Week 3, Conte had to leave games with an injury to his left shoulder, which he had surgery on in the offseason. Then on Oct. 5 at Carolina, Conte left with a concussion -- but not before returning to the field for one play after an apparent miscommunication on the Bears' sideline about proper protocol. That was the second concussion Conte had suffered in a two-month stretch, as he also had one in the preseason.
After the second concussion, Trestman acknowledged the Bears were concerned about Conte moving forward in an era in which head injuries are under a microscope.
"You do have concerns when Chris has a history," Trestman said. "Certainly that's relevant. When we put him back in the game (at Carolina), he had no lingering signs at all. He went through all the sideline protocol and went back out there, and then he came back out obviously because he did have some."
Conte has 19 tackles and two interceptions and has generally been steady this season after uneven and at times disastrous play in 2013 on a Bears defense that set franchise records for futility.
Wilson eligible to return to practice Wednesday
Bears receiver Marquess Wilson is eligible to return to practice Wednesday. He's been on the injured reserve with a designation to return since Sept. 2 after he suffered a broken clavicle while diving for a pass in training camp.
The earliest Wilson could return to game action is Nov. 9 against the Packers. League rules require that players on the IR-designated to return list must be out at least six weeks of practice and eight weeks overall.
"We're just going to see how he looks and give him some time to work back in," Trestman said, according to the Chicago Tribune. "He'll probably do some scout team work (initially) and just get active with whatever the trainers have him doing. Whatever the modified practice is that he does, we'll just roll with that until time says that he's ready to go."
