Chicago Bears WR Chase Claypool designated as ‘physically unable to perform’ two days before the team reports to training camp

Two days before their full team will report to training camp at Halas Hall, the Chicago Bears have officially designated receiver Chase Claypool as physically unable to perform. That transaction was filed to the NFL offices Sunday afternoon just as Bears rookies and quarterbacks settled into camp in Lake Forest.

The Claypool news, though, was a bit of a surprise after the 25-year-old receiver was spotted training with quarterback Justin Fields and other teammates in Florida earlier this month. Bears coaches had also stressed in June that Claypool was expected to be fully healthy for the start of camp. Now, on the eve of training camp, Claypool’s status for the preseason is up in the air.

The Bears traded a second-round pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers last November to acquire Claypool, a deal that wound up costing the Bears the first pick of the second round (No. 32 overall) in April’s draft. And with Claypool heading into the final year of his rookie contract, expectations were being set at Halas Hall for the receiver to prove himself, both with production on the field and through his work habits and demeanor around the team.

Claypool, though, missed the last two weeks of Bears organized team activities this offseason as well as the team’s minicamp in mid-June with what was first described as a soft-tissue injury but later labeled by Eberflus as “a few things” he was dealing with.

“What’s great about this time of year is we have the luxury of him working with the trainers,” Eberflus said during minicamp in June. “He’s not on a time crunch. And we can get him fully healthy working into the summer because we have 40 days when we break from (minicamp) to get ready for that report to training camp. That’s what we’re trying to do.”

Those efforts, for whatever reason, did not produce the desired result. Now it will be wait-and-see as to when Claypool will be removed from the PUP list and, perhaps more significantly, when he will be cleared to take on a full workload in practices. The next week should be telling on both fronts.

Claypool played in seven games for the Bears last season but contributed only 14 catches and 140 yards and missed two contests in December due to a knee injury. Furthermore, inside Halas Hall there has been a push to encourage Claypool to become steadier with how he handles the ups and downs of the NFL grind.

In May, Fields complimented Claypool for embracing a new start in 2023.

“Chase has improved tremendously, just from the end of last year to now,” Fields said during OTAs. “That’s one thing I’m truly proud to say, just seeing his work ethic and his attitude change, you can see he’s taken another step.”

In a video posted to social media by @SirSimeonKelley on July 14, Claypool was shown running routes with a compression sleeve on his right leg.

According to a league source, Claypool’s current physical ailment is seen as minor with the chance he could be cleared to come off the PUP list before the first week of camp is finished.

Looking to upgrade their supporting cast around Fields, the Bears traded for receiver DJ Moore in March as part of the deal that sent the No. 1 overall pick to the Carolina Panthers. Moore quickly established himself as the undisputed top receiver in the offense. But Claypool and Darnell Mooney were likely to take on prominent roles as well.

Now, however, Claypool starts his first training camp as a Bear on the PUP list with a handful of questions still to be answered. Eberflus and general manager Ryan Poles are scheduled to meet with reporters on Tuesday morning as the Bears report to camp.