‘Best it’s felt’: Loveland optimistic about having no shoulder restrictions heading into training camp

GURNEE, Ill. (WGN) — For many first-year players in the NFL, rookie hazing can be a common thing. But for the Chicago Bears’ Colston Loveland Tuesday, he was more so put through some rookie lazy-ing.

The Bears’ first-round draft pick spent his afternoon catching passes from patients and families of Lurie Children’s Hospital as he tubed down the lazy river at Great Wolf Lodge in Gurnee.

“It was a lot of fun, seeing kids smile,” Loveland said. “It was my first time at a water park in eight years. It was a good time.”

For every pass the rookie tight end caught, the waterpark donated $250 to Lurie Children’s Hospital, totaling $7,500 by the time the footballs stopped flying.

And while Tuesday was a fun excursion that doubled as a helping hand in the community, there has been nothing lazy about Loveland’s offseason.

The former national champion at the University of Michigan has spent the last six-plus months rehabbing from shoulder surgery while working to learn his first NFL playbook. He was at the Bears’ facility Tuesday morning to work out, and went right back to Halas Hall after his excursion to Great Wolf Lodge brought some smiles to pediatric cancer patients in the northern suburbs.

When it comes to how his surgically-repaired shoulder is feeling, Loveland told WGN-TV’s Josh Frydman “it feels good, really good. [The] best it’s felt.”

“The strength is there. The scar tissue’s barely there anymore, so … Everything is increasing. It’s good,” Loveland said.

He said that should everything go according to plan heading into training camp, there should be no restrictions for him once camp starts.

“Talking to PT and everyone, I’m on a good track,” Loveland said. “Just doing what I can do everyday to get better.”

Once he’s 100% back in the fold, Loveland talked about how he’s excited to play under new head coach Ben Johnson for a team where everyone feels “like-minded and everyone’s chasing the same goal.”

“He’s just super intense and so locked in,” Loveland said of his new head coach. “He’s in there working out all the time, like working out too. He’s always in the building, super smart in the meeting room. On the field, I like everything he does. He’s a great coach, and that goes for all the coaches as well.

“I’m just looking forward to continuing to build that relationship with everyone and go win games.”

Loveland and the rest of the Bears’ rookie class are set to report for training camp Saturday, July 19, while the rest of the roster will report by Tuesday, July 22.