Chris Mortensen explains why Chicago TE Zach Miller is not only fighting to save his career, but also his leg after a gruesome Week 8 injury. (1:30) 
 
 Chicago Bears tight end Zach Miller will remain in a New Orleans hospital after undergoing emergency surgery Sunday to repair a damaged artery in his left leg. 
 
 The Bears announced Monday that vascular surgeons at University Medical Center New Orleans stabilized Miller's injury, which was diagnosed as a torn popliteal artery. 
 
 A source told ESPN's Chris Mortensen later Monday that the artery was found "shredded from above the knee joint to below the knee" by the vascular surgeons, who diagnosed Miller's injury as lateral subluxation. There is also orthopedic damage to the knee, the source said. 
 
 The surgeons praised Bears team doctor Mark Bowen for quickly identifying the vascular problem by checking Miller's dropping pulse. 
 
 According to the source, surgeons used a saphenous vein graft procedure of surgery to revascularize Miller's leg. 
 
 League and team sources told ESPN's Chris Mortensen earlier Monday that surgeons had been working to save Miller's leg, although it was not clear whether amputation was ever considered. 
 
 "I think that's always a concern," coach John Fox said when asked about amputation. "Our medical people did a great job as far as getting him there; they realized the problem immediately. 
 
 "Obviously, with any kind of vascular issue, you don't want altitude, you don't want people flying around. He'll have to remain still there for some time. He won't be coming back to Chicago any time real soon." 
 
 "I didn't really want to believe it. I couldn't believe it," Bears receiver Tre McBride said about a potential amputation. "I didn't realize that that was even a possible consequence of having a dislocated knee. 
 
 "Obviously you wouldn't want that to happen to anybody, especially somebody who I personally have kind of leaned on since I've been here as an older vet and a role model. But I'm glad that he's doing well and I'm sending him all the positive energy that I can, and I hope that he's back 100 percent soon." 
 
 Miller underwent an MRI on Monday as doctors evaluated the blood flow and overall anatomy of his leg, sources told Mortensen. The Bears announced that team medical personnel also will remain with Miller at UMC. 
 
 Miller dislocated his knee in the third quarter of Sunday's loss to the New Orleans Saints. Surgeons were called in to repair Miller's leg, which included grafting tissue from the other leg to repair the damaged artery, sources told Mortensen. 
 
 Miller had made an over-the-shoulder catch on a throw from rookie quarterback Mitchell Trubisky in the end zone, but when he landed his left leg bent awkwardly. 
 
 Sensing the serious nature of the injury, Bears medical personnel rushed onto the field to assist Miller, who stayed down for several minutes before being taken off the field on a cart. 
 
 Officials later ruled that Miller did not maintain possession of the ball, negating a potential touchdown catch. 
 
 Fox said Miller was in good spirits, and "pretty much wanted his touchdown back." 
 
 Miller was not "out of the woods by any stretch," Fox said, "but it's as good as could be expected at this point." 
 
 ESPN's Jeff Dickerson contributed to this report. ||||| The angle at which Zach Miller's left leg bent was so horrifically wrong that there was little doubt the Bears tight end was seriously injured Sunday afternoon at the Superdome in New Orleans. 
 
 It was so serious, in fact, that Miller needed urgent vascular surgery, a procedure that went beyond trying to save his football career to trying to save his ability to walk. 
 
 When Miller landed awkwardly while trying to make a touchdown catch in the Bears' loss to the Saints, he dislocated his left knee and tore the popliteal artery behind the knee. That is the artery that primarily provides blood flow to the lower part of the leg, and the disruption of blood flow puts amputation into the conversation unless addressed properly, according to three surgeons who deal with such injuries. 
 
 The medical staffs of the Bears and the University Medical Center New Orleans did that. Miller quickly went from the stadium to the hospital, where surgeons stabilized the injury by using a vein from his right leg to repair the artery, Bears coach John Fox said. 
 
 Miller remains at the New Orleans hospital with family and Bears personnel for further evaluation. The Bears did not say how closely Miller came to losing his leg, and an official at UMCNO declined to comment. Fox said the doctors "feel good about where he is right now, as it relates to that." 
 
 "Right now the report is they're obviously going to take awhile for it to make sure it remains good, but he's got good pulse in his lower leg, as well as good feeling," Fox said. "His foot is warm, which is a good sign. Not to say he's out of the woods by any stretch, but it's as good as could be expected at this point. So we'd appreciate if you keep him in your thoughts and prayers." 
 
 Knee dislocations can involve extensive damage to three or four of the joint's major ligaments. Fox declined to address damage done to the ligaments in Miller's knee and what the recovery process will be like for an injury this serious, indicating the main focus Monday was the vascular issue. 
 
 Dr. Mark Neault, an orthopedic surgeon with Advocate Medical Group in Lincolnshire, said that an arterial tear such as Miller's is "a true emergency" that needs to be addressed in a matter of a few hours. That takes precedence over any possible ligament damage, which sometimes isn't addressed until weeks afterward. Neault said Miller's type of dislocation is rare in sports and is more often associated with trauma such as a car crash. 
 
 It was so ugly Fox said he won't watch the replay. Defensive end Jonathan Bullard said he viewed it reluctantly. 
 
 "I kind of didn't want to look at it, but it's one of those things you want to take a peek at," Bullard said. "And I've seen it on the replay. Man, it's just one of those situations where there's not much you can do but drop down on your knee and send him a prayer up for him and his family." 
 
 When word of the severity of the injury was reported Monday morning, well wishes streamed through social media. Fox addressed his team that afternoon to let them know the details. 
 
 "I didn't really want to believe it," Bears wide receiver Tre McBride said. "I couldn't believe it. I didn't realize that (amputation) was even a possible consequence of having a dislocated knee, so when I heard that that was the last thing I was expecting to hear. 
 
 "Obviously you wouldn't want that to happen to anybody, especially somebody who I personally have kind of leaned on since I've been here as an older vet and a role model. But I'm glad that he's doing well, and I'm sending him all the positive energy that I can and I hope that he's back 100 percent soon." 
 
 Fox also spoke with Miller on the phone Monday and said Miller was in good enough spirits he argued he made a touchdown catch on the play he was injured. Miller originally was ruled to have caught a 25-yard touchdown from quarterback Mitch Trubisky, but replay officials overturned the call. 
 
 "I was talking to Kristen, his wife, and he basically snagged the phone from her," Fox said. "I was actually shocked to hear his voice because I wasn't there during the surgery, didn't know the recovery process. But typical Zach, he was arguing about catch, no catch. 
 
 "But he's very supportive of the team, very unselfish. That's just him, and it's genuine. It's real, and I just kind of shared that back. He's got all our love and prayers coming his way. He was basically telling us to hang in there. But that's him. That's just the kind of person he is and the kind of teammate he is." 
 
 The injury leaves the Bears without a team leader and one of Trubisky's top targets. 
 
 Miller, 33, is in his third season with the Bears after beginning his career as a Jaguars sixth-round pick out of Nebraska-Omaha in 2009. 
 
 He had 20 catches for 236 yards and two touchdowns this season before suffering his latest setback in an injury-marred career. He had season-ending surgery on a broken right foot last year and also dealt with a left foot injury in 2014, a concussion in 2013, a torn Achilles tendon and calf muscle in 2012 and shoulder surgery in 2011. He did not play a regular-season game in 2012, 2013 or 2014. 
 
 "He wouldn't let any obstacle get him down and take him out," McBride said. "I hope he can come back from this one. That's what I would love to see. But I don't know." 
 
 Tribune reporter Phil Thompson contributed. 
 
 ckane@chicagotribune.com 
 
 Twitter @ChiTribKane ||||| Photo: Wesley Hitt/Getty Images 
 
 Bears tight end Zach Miller’s knee injury looked awful when it happened during Sunday’s game at the Saints. The diagnosis turned out to be much more grim. 
 
 Per ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, Miller needed emergency surgery at a New Orleans hospital last night in an effort to save his leg. Miller dislocated his left knee so severely, he damaged an artery. As a result, Mortensen reported, vascular surgeons had to be brought in to handle the surgery. To repair the artery, they had to graft tissue from Miller’s right leg. 
 
 The severity of Miller’s injury recalls the worst fears the Vikings had when QB Teddy Bridgewater hurt his knee in August 2016. Bridgewater sustained a dislocation but didn’t suffer any artery or nerve damage. He only recently was cleared to practice again. 
 
 Miller’s injury sounds disturbingly similar to what happened to former Raiders running back Napoleon McCallum, who ruptured an artery in his leg when he dislocated his knee during a game in 1994. McCallum never played again.
– Chicago Bears tight end Zach Miller suffered an ugly-looking knee dislocation in Sunday's game against the New Orleans Saints, but according to an ESPN report, the reality is even uglier. The network reports that a "regular dislocation" would be considered "serious," but sources tell the network's Chris Mortensen the 33-year-old experienced something worse after landing weirdly on his leg after jumping to make a catch (video here): a damaged artery in the leg. Those NFL and team sources say vascular surgeons operated on Miller Sunday night "in an effort to save his injured left leg," as ESPN puts it. Tissue was reportedly grafted from the right leg. The Chicago Tribune quotes Bears right guard Kyle Long as saying of the injury, "It's brutal, gruesome. I didn't watch it after I saw it the first time." Deadspin notes such an injury wouldn't be unprecedented in the league: Raiders running back Napoleon McCallum suffered a career-ending dislocation that damaged an artery during a 1994 game.