LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — Luther Burden was hungry when he joined the Chicago Bears. A year later, not much has changed on that front.
He has somewhere he wants to go, and he is determined to reach that level.
“Just prove, you know, that I am who I say I am. ... I’m that guy,” Burden said Thursday on the second day of organized team activities.
The Bears are believers, and they showed just how much they think of Burden's potential when they traded veteran receiver DJ Moore to Buffalo in March. With Moore gone, the 22-year-old Burden is expected to take on a more prominent role alongside fellow receiver Rome Odunze and second-year tight end Colston Loveland.
“Yeah, I’m buying Luther Burton stock right now," coach Ben Johnson said. “Just how he’s approached his offseason, it’s been electric. It showed up yesterday. He had numerous explosive plays. ... So he’s in a really good spot.”
Burden starred at the University of Missouri before he was selected by Chicago in the second round of last year's draft. He had 61 catches for 676 yards and six TDs in his final season with the Tigers, despite facing constant double- and triple-team coverage.
He was hampered by a hamstring injury in the run-up to his first training camp with the Bears. But he finished with 47 receptions for 652 yards and two touchdowns in 15 games during his rookie season.
"Every day he goes to work, he knows his ability, and it shows,” running back D’Andre Swift said.
Burden had just two receptions for 2 yards in his first two NFL games. But he broke out in a 31-14 victory over Dallas in Week 3, finishing with three catches for 101 yards and his first TD. He had a season-high eight receptions for 138 yards and a touchdown in a 42-38 loss at San Francisco on Dec. 28.
He averaged 2.69 yards per route run during the regular season, according to Pro Football Focus, ranking third in the league among wide receivers.
“When we drafted him, we saw an explosive athlete who was really dangerous with the ball in his hands. The question was, ‘How can we get it in his hands?’” Johnson said. “The easy things to do are screens or short throws, but I think there’s a lot more to his game that we’ve worked to unlock, and he’s been really receptive to how we can get that done.”
Burden said Moore played a big role in his development.
“Just seeing how he takes care of his body, how he prepares himself for practice, games, stuff like that,” he said. “And just picking his brain. It was great.”
Burden said he feels someone has to step up with Moore gone, and he prepared for his second year in the NFL by spending much of his offseason at the Bears' facility. He wanted to get bigger, stronger and faster, along with more comfortable with the playbook.
He thinks his familiarity with the system is already helping him play faster this time around.
“I feel it helps a lot because if you’re thinking about what you’ve gotta do, you can’t even focus on what the defense is in,” he said. “You’re trying to focus on what you’ve gotta do. If you already know what you’ve gotta do, I feel like you’ll have a better plan of how to attack their defense.”
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Chicago Bears wide receiver Luther Burden III runs on the field during the NFL football team's practice Thursday, May 28, 2026, in Lake Forest, Ill. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Chicago Bears wide receiver Luther Burden III (10) runs a drill during the NFL football team's practice Thursday, May 28, 2026, in Lake Forest, Ill. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Chicago Bears wide receiver Luther Burden III (10) works on the field as wide receiver Jahdae Walker (9) looks on during the NFL football team's practice Thursday, May 28, 2026, in Lake Forest, Ill. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Police in Kenya have arrested eight female students on suspicion of arson, authorities said Friday, after a fire destroyed a dormitory at a boarding school, killing 16 children and injuring dozens of others. The motive is still unknown.
Police held 30 students overnight for questioning. Authorities said school administrators would face disciplinary action for safety violations after an exit door was found to be locked during the panicked rush to escape the building. At least 79 people were injured.
Education Minister Julius Ogamba said two teachers were aware that students were planning something but failed to take appropriate action, without elaborating.
A full day after the blaze, some parents said they had still not been told whether their children were under arrest or just being questioned.
“We have not even been told about the eight that police have arrested,” a parent, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of fear that her daughter could be victimized, told The Associated Press. “We are just here and no one is giving us any information.”
At a hospital morgue some 28 kilometers (18 miles) from the school, other parents awaited DNA tests to identify their children. A distraught father, John Muiruri, said they were being given conflicting information about the location of the bodies.
“They have just been doing some sideshows, trying to prevent us from knowing the truth, but the reality we have come to know is that we have lost our children," he said. “What we want to know is where are the remains of our daughters.”
The Utumishi Girls School, located about 120 kilometers (75 miles) from the capital, Nairobi, is managed and sponsored by the police, and many of the students are daughters of police officers.
“Investigators have conducted extensive interviews with students, teaching staff and other witnesses, while forensic teams carry out a detailed review of available CCTV footage,” John Marete, a spokesman for the investigative arm of the national police, said in a statement.
Education Minister Ogamba said the school's board of management had been dissolved and the principal would face disciplinary action for failing to comply with safety regulations.
“In particular, there was congestion in the dormitory and one exit door was locked, contrary to the prescribed safety requirements,” he said.
Fires at schools have long been a cause of concern for education officials in East Africa, where classrooms and dormitories are often crowded and firefighting equipment is rarely within reach.
Fires are sometimes attributed to electrical faults but there have also been cases of students burning down schools because of disciplinary issues.
Associated Press journalist Zelipha Kirobi in Gilgil, Kenya, contributed.
John Muiruri, father of Nicole Muiruri, who died in the fire at Utumishi Girls Academy, shows a photo of his daughter as he waits for body identification and DNA testing at Naivasha Funeral Home in Naivasha Town, Rift Valley region, Kenya, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)
A parent of a victim of the fire at the Utumishi Girls Academy is consoled ahead of body identification and DNA testing at Naivasha Funeral Home in Naivasha Town, Rift Valley region, Kenya, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)
A parent of a victim of the fire at the Utumishi Girls Academy is consoled ahead of body identification and DNA testing at Naivasha Funeral Home in Naivasha Town, Rift Valley region, Kenya, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)
An injured student is evacuated following an early morning fire outbreak at Utumishi Girls School in the Gilgil area, central Kenya, Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)
Red Cross members recover the bodies of students who died in the fire at the Utumishi Girls School in the Gilgil area, central Kenya, Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)
