Chicago Bears News: Chase Claypool placed on PUP list

The Chicago Bears report to training camp this week beginning on Tuesday when rookies are set to report.

The first team practice is set for later this week but one player that will be absent from the practice field is wide receiver Chase Claypool.

In true Bears’ news dump fashion, the team announced on Sunday evening that Claypool was placed on the physically unable to perform list.

Claypool missed most of the Bears’ off-season program while dealing with a soft tissue injury but he appeared to be fully recovered as of two weeks ago when he was filmed working out his fellow wide receivers and quarterback Justin Fields.

Fields was even adamant that Claypool was “good to go”.

The Chase Claypool trade continues to look bad for the Chicago Bears.

It would appear that this latest injury to Claypool occurred after that workout session with Fields.

The Bears’ decision to trade for Claypool at the NFL Trade Deadline last season continues to look like a mistake. There appeared to have been friction between the Bears and Claypool last season but the team chalked that up to the fact that wide receiver joined the team in-season.

The expectation was for Claypool to utilize the off-season as a way to develop a connection with Fields and establish his role in the team’s offense.

The expectation is not reality as Claypool will begin his first full season with the Bears a step behind the rest of the team.

At the start of the off-season, it seemed to be a foregone conclusion that Claypool would get a contract extension from the Bears. After all, the Bears essentially gave up a first-round pick for Claypool when they sent their second-round pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers last season.

Now, with this latest setback, Claypool’s future with the Bears does not appear as certain as it once may have been.