Injury Blow: Bears’ Promising Rookie Shemar Turner Faces Mysterious Ankle Setback—What It Means for the Season

Turner finished his Aggie career with 115 tackles, 24 tackles for loss, 10 sacks, one pass deflection and three forced fumbles.

The Bears are preparing to be without rookie defensive tackle Shemar Turner for at least a month, Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune reports.Injuries have a way of sneaking up at the most inconvenient times, and the Chicago Bears are now grappling with just that as rookie defensive tackle Shemar Turner is facing a recovery period that’ll keep him sidelined for at least a month. Drafted in the second round, Turner suffered an ankle injury during the tail end of the initial training camp practice—talk about bad timing. This setback means he’s out for all three preseason games, and there’s even a chance he won’t make the season opener. What’s especially sobering here is the backstory: Turner had surgery to fix a stress fracture that wasn’t fully healed before the season even began, a fact uncovered when he pulled out of the Senior Bowl. He played the college season with a rod in his leg, not knowing the bone hadn’t mended properly—tough break for any athlete. But don’t overlook his college legacy: 115 tackles, 24 tackles for loss, 10 sacks, a pass deflection, and three forced fumbles during his time at Texas A&M—a stat sheet that screams potential. This is one developing story I’ll be following closely as Turner works his way back. LEARN MOREThe former Texas A&M product withdrew from the Senior Bowl when medical tests discovered the stress fracture he had surgery to repair before the start of the 2024 season didn’t fully heal. Turner had a rod inserted into his leg during surgery, but he unknowingly ended up playing through the season with the injury after the bone didn’t fully heal.Turner, a second-round pick, injured his ankle near the end of the first training camp practice last Wednesday.He will miss all three preseason games and could miss the start of the season, according to Biggs.