Brian Urlacher suffered a sprained MCL in the regular-season finale for the Chicago Bears on Jan. 1. The Pro Bowl middle linebacker did not participate in the club’s offseason program as he rehabilitated from the injury that did not require surgery. Now, Urlacher has been held out of the last three days of training camp practice with what coach Lovie Smith described as a sore knee. “Brian's knee is still a little bit sore. And a couple of other guys,†Smith said Friday night after the team’s practice at Soldier Field. “But they should be good to go next week.†The Bears are off today and will return to practice on Sunday at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Il., Urlacher is wearing a brace on his knee to stabilize it, something he has not done previously in his career. The Bears obviously expected him to heal fine because they didn’t do much to augment depth at the position in the offseason, Geno Hayes was signed as a potential backup but he’s considered an outside linebacker. Source: National Football Post
Oh contrary, Sprain is a very ambiguousness term used here as it doesn't specify which of the three grades of injury was sustained. However, as the sprain occurred in January and is still causing Urlacher issues, it's safe to assume that it's on the grim end of the scale, especially with the use of a brace that those who opt against surgery use when strengthening the other surrounding ligaments. Either way, he shouldn't still be experiencing soreness for this length of time with the injury, and with factoring in his age and wear, this is a real concern for the Bears.
Urlacher's the kind of guy who will just needs reps to get in game shape. He's got the schemes down so no need to risk getting him hecked up on some bullcrap drills the rooks need to get the playbook down. Let him ride the pine until it's time to gas him up a bit.
