Things are not exactly cohesive between rookie receiver Kevin White and the Chicago Bears.
Despite the organization’s announcement on Saturday that White needs surgery and could miss the entire season, as of Friday the rookie claimed he could play right now.
“If it was up to me, I would be out there. I want to be practicing tomorrow,” White said Friday, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. “But it’s not my call. I’ve got to follow the rules.”
“I feel I can play. But you’ve got to look at the coaches, trainers and if they say, ‘Kevin, give it another week,’ that’s what I have to do. Hopefully we’ll get some good news and hopefully I’ll be back out there very soon.”
This is strange talk coming from White considering the announcement by the team.
He suffered an injury to his shin during practice which caused him to miss all of training camp and the team’s preseason opener. White claims there is no stress fracture to his shin which would be much more serious than him just dealing with shin splints.
Regarding the young man’s take on how he thought the NFL would handle is situation, he shared this:
“I thought in the (NFL) they’d rush you back — I guess (you should) never just a book by it’s cover,” White said. “They’re taking their time. Whenever they do want me to play, I’ll be ready.”
Yes. This is how the Bears are going to handle their precious first-round draft pick. There is no reason at all to rush White back before he is ready to play at 100 percent.
If White indeed does not require surgery, it would be prudent to have him sit out the rest of the preseason as further precaution. White’s encouraging self-diagnosis should be monitored as the regular season approaches, as should the huge divide between what he says and what the organization has declared.