Chicago Bears expect WR Keenan Allen to return vs. Rams as Allen vied to put heel injury 'beside us
LAKE FOREST, Ill. - Keenan Allen has been doing this for a while.
The Chicago Bears receiver and decade-long pro knew when something was up. It was in training camp at first. Then, in Week 1, it got a little worse.
"The joint practice with the Bengals, it started irritating me," Allen said. "Just wear and tear type of deal. Like I said, a bone bruise or a bone spur on the heel and like I said, it just got worse because the Titans game and I had that abrupt stop where it kind of stretched."
Allen said Friday he had been dealing with plantar fasciitis when the heel injury he had went from bad to worse. He's missed Weeks 2 and 3 because of it, and the Bears' offense could use his expertise in moving the football.
It's not a guarantee that Allen will be back for Sunday's noon tilt against the Rams, but he's going to do all he can.
He can't make the injury any worse. It just comes down to pain tolerance and patience.
"Can't really do nothing about it," Allen said. "Wait until it heals up."
On Friday's injury report, Allen was a full go at practice. That's an improvement from being limited on Wednesday and Thursday. He's questionable to play on Sunday.
Allen said he'll go through the team's walk-through tomorrow and see how he feels on Sunday. Bears head coach Matt Eberflus said he expects Allen to be able to go on Sunday. The biggest thing is that Allen is in a better place now than he was after Week 1.
"He was full today, looked good today," Eberflus said. "I know he's in a good spot."
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If he's able to go, Allen will be called upon to be a big help on Sunday.
He was quarterback Caleb Williams' favorite target in Week 1. Even, though Williams struggled to get into a rhythm against Tennessee, he still targeted Allen 11 times. Allen caught four of those 11 targets.
Against the Rams, Allen would go against a zone defense where he wouldn't need to make as many moves to shake defenders.
Allen was pretty cheeky on Friday, too.
He wasn't too concerned when he was asked if he feels confident he'll be able to keep up his rapport with Williams. He smiled when he simply said "Football is football."
"I've been playing for a little while now," Allen said. "Hopefully I can get to my spots."
Because he has that experience, he knows that it's better that he takes the time and heals any kind of injury now as opposed to sometime down the line. He'd rather miss games in the beginning of the season as opposed to when the team is vying for a playoff spot.
"That was the main thing of resting each week and just making sure we put this beside us," Allen said, "and be able to be healthy."