No holding back by Ben Johnson about what Luther Burden III lost

"It's not just the coaching staff having trust in you, doing the right thing over and over, but it's also your teammates. They have to be out there. They have to see you do it. They have to know that the guy to the right and the left of them are going to do the right things, and they're going to make the plays when called upon."

Like the other second-round draft picks in the NFL selected after No. 34 overall, Burden is unsigned. So there's no guarantee now that he's in camp at the start even if he is healthy.

The difference between Burden's absence and Loveland's is the Bears expected Loveland's absence because he had surgery well in advance of being drafted. 

The Bears had a number of players who missed big chunks of the offseason work on the field, like T.J. Edwards, Jaylon Johnson, Terell Smith and Dayo Odeyingbo. They're experienced and know what to expect, but also are still learning the defense of Dennis Allen.

Younger or less experienced players missing time is a bigger problem, and while Burden was away veteran slot receiver Olamide Zaccheaus definitely made in-roads toward being a starter by gaining a nice connection with quarterback Caleb Williams.

OTAs represented real opportunity—now lost—to figure things out.

"It's for everybody," Johnson said. "It's a shame that he got dinged up and missed all that time, because for a young player, it's really where you get the most reps and you can get better in a hurry that way.

"That's really for every player on this team."

For Burden, he'll simply need to be a faster learner and take advantage of every play in training camp when the rookies report in July.