Bears cornerback Kyle Fuller is primed to come back from injured reserve, perhaps early next week, head coach John Fox said Friday.
“I’d be pretty surprised depending on how it goes after [Friday] because he had a pretty brisk workout [Friday], if he’s not practicing Monday,” Fox told Adam L. Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times.
Fuller underwent arthroscopic knee surgery in August and has been on IR since Sept. 27. Once the Bears designate him to return, they’ll have a three-week window to activate the 24-year-old. At 2-8, Chicago’s hopes for 2016 are dashed, but it would be beneficial for the team to continue evaluating Fuller in advance of the offseason. The Bears have to decide on Fuller’s fifth-year option for 2018 by the spring, though they’re unlikely to exercise it, Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune wrote in September. A 2014 first-round pick, Fuller has started in 30 of 32 games – including all 16 last year – and intercepted six passes.
When Fuller comes back, the season will officially end for another of the Bears’ recent first-rounders, receiver Kevin White. The second-year man landed on IR on Oct. 5 with a fractured fibula. Injuries have limited White to just four games since the Bears chose him seventh overall in 2015.