Bears’ N’Keal Harry to have tightrope surgery on his ankle

This morning it was reported that Chicago Bears’ wide receiver N’Keal Harry was set to have tightrope surgery on his ankle today, and at his post-practice press conference head coach Matt Eberflus confirmed the report.

Initial speculation is that Harry could be back in eight weeks, so if the Bears planned on him being a part of their 53-man roster, they would need to initially roster him, then place him on injured reserve. New rules this year allow teams to being back up to eight players from the injured lists after they miss a minimum of four games.

For those wondering what tightrope surgery is, Mason West, a physical therapist that is very active on Bears Twitter, had a string of Tweets explaining it.

Tightrope shortens the rehab and return to play timeline. Maybe 4-6 weeks. The tightrope allows the syndesmosis to be stabilized so it is more flexible. Keeps natural motion between the tibia and fibula.

Since the fixation is flexible, there is no need for a second surgery to remove hardware. Tua had it at Alabama, played 28 days later.

Let me clarify. 4-6 weeks until football activities NOT back in an NFL game. That is more likely 8 weeks. Everyone heals differently. Michael Thomas had same surgery but needed a revision....he was out a year.

In other Bears injury news, Roquan Smith was removed from the PUP list yesterday, but he still did not practice. He was in attendance at Halas Hall, so his hold-in continues.

Twenty-one players sat out yesterday’s practice, and some notable names missing today were David Montgomery, Cole Kmet, Kyler Gordon, Velus Jones Jr., David Moore, Byron Pringle, Kindle Vildor, Tavon Young, Mario Edwards Jr., Angelo Blackson, and Duke Shelley.

Chicago’s number one offensive line continues to be Braxton Jones at left tackle, Cody Whitehair at left guard, center Sam Mustipher, right guard Michael Schofield, and Riley Reiff at right tackle.

Teven Jenkins, who has been working at both right guard and tackle, got some second string right tackle reps today.

The Bears host the Kansas City Chiefs in their preseason opener in just two days, and coach Eberflus said that some of his starters will see between 15 and 20 snaps in the game, however it’s expected that Montgomery and Kmet will be be held out.