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Conte vows to return for opener

Chris Conte isn’t sure when he’ll return from the shoulder injury he suffered in Saturday night’s win over the Redskins. But the Bears safety expects to be back before the Sept. 9 season opener against the Colts.

“It’s not a big deal,” Conte told reporters Tuesday at Halas Hall. “I don’t plan on missing any regular season games, but it’s [frustrating because] preseason was going well and you want to keep on getting better and playing in the preseason. But it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.”

Conte was injured in the second quarter while making a routine tackle on Washington running back Evan Royster. The 2011 third-round pick from California exited after registering three tackles.

“It’s a day-to-day thing,” Conte said. “Just as long as I have range of motion and strength, I should be good.”

In other news Tuesday, the Bears waived/injured defensive tackle DeMario Pressley. Pressley signed with the Bears in May after appearing in eight games with the Saints (2009) and Panthers (2011), recording 20 tackles.

Wright feels his teammates’ pain

Having been slowed by injuries since he entered the NFL, Major Wright can empathize with fellow safeties Chris Conte and Brandon Hardin after both were hurt in Saturday night’s preseason win over the Redskins.

“That’s always frustrating,” Wright said Tuesday at Halas Hall. “I dealt with it for two years. It’s something that you’ve just got to deal with, put in your past and just build on whatever you’ve got going on. Things happen. You’ve got to get over it and come back stronger.”

Wright has had trouble staying healthy since he joined the Bears in 2010 as a third-round pick, missing five games as a rookie with a pulled hamstring and four contests last year due to neck, hip and shoulder injuries.

“You can’t let it affect how you play,” Wright said. “This is the game you’ve been playing for how many years—for me all my life—and I can’t change the way I’ve been doing things all my life.”

With the status of Conte (shoulder) and Hardin (neck) uncertain, it appears that Wright could be teaming with versatile five-year veteran Craig Steltz at the safety position with the No. 1 defense.

“It’s always next man up,” Wright said. “Every man has got to be ready to play at any time.

“Craig is a vet. He’s one of the older guys in the room. Everybody looks up to him because he’s been in this defense for so many years. It’s good. We both communicate. We feel like we’re on the same page in every defense.”