The Bears made tight end Trey Burton a late addition to their injury report with a groin injury that would keep him from playing in the 16-15 season-ending loss to the Eagles.
Burton said on Monday he became aware of the issue last Friday and thought he would be able to push through it before waking up on Saturday to find things were “completely locked up.” He tried “everything possible” to loosen up, but it didn’t work out for him.
“I let my team down. I hate it,” Burton said, via the Chicago Tribune. “Especially going against one of my former teams. Playoff game. All the implications. It was tough.”
Burton has spoken about past issues with anxiety, including a December episode related to plans to have Burton throw a pass in a reprise of the “Philly Special.” Burton said he “couldn’t sleep that night thinking about it” and the Bears wound up having running back Tarik Cohen run the play instead.
Burton said he considered whether his issue on Wild Card weekend was a mental one, but felt he was in “a really good spot” mentally and that the reason for his absence from the lineup was purely physical.