The Chicago Bears addressed the topic of Markus Wheaton and his hand injury when the franchise posted a video to their official Youtube account on Friday. The posting comes as part of the build up to this weekend's game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bears are 0-1 at this point while the Bucs are 0-0 following an opening-week bye that entailed no action. Tampa Bay will host the game and they are coming in as significant favorites. Bet365 and other sportsbooks have made the Buccaneers 7-point favorites as they host Chicago.

Wheaton needs pinky finger to block

Wheaton is a new face with the Chicago Bears this season after spending four seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFL. Last year was a setback season for the 26-year old as he appeared in only three games. Right now the setback for him is his pinky finger. In his recent interview he claimed that catching punts is a simpler matter for a player with his injury because, on those kinds of catches, you use your chest to cradle the ball. However passes from the quarterback are a different and more difficult matter.

But one point that Wheaton made in the short social-media post from the Bears has to do less with passing and more to do with the physicality of playing against a defensive cornerback.

He called blocking "the biggest question" for him right now: "I gotta be able to block to be on the field," Wheaton claimed. He added: "As receivers we take pride in our blocking so I gotta be ready for that." The truth with receivers is that they are not a part of every play when it comes to being the target from a throwing quarterback.

It's blocking that is a mainstay coming out of an offensive set and thus you can why Wheaton is stressing its importance.

The interview was conducted at a time when many that cover the Bears are anticipating Wheaton's return. He certainly seemed upbeat, positive, and even happy during the interview with the reporters. Matt Eurich, writing at 247Sports, noted Wheaton's bad luck as a member of the Bears.

The writer called the receiver "questionable" for Sunday's game in a Friday article: "He has been limited in practice this week and is listed as questionable for Sunday's game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers," Eurich stated.

The Week-2 game time for the Buccaneers and the Bears is Sunday as part of the early slate of games that day. The game is an important one for both teams. Neither is considered to be among the strong teams this season. As such the game could be a big swing game that helps separate a relevant team in the playoff hunt from an irrelevant team. Regardless of the result it will still be very early in the season. But with tougher games to come, both teams will be looking for a win. FOX will have the television coverage for this game with a start time of 1pm ET from Raymond James Stadium.