LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Chicago Bears running back Jordan Howard said on Tuesday that he’s received reassurance from the front office that -- despite rumors to the contrary -- the team has no desire to trade the 1,000-yard rusher.

“[The Bears] told my agent they had no plans to trade me or anything like that,” Howard said as the Bears kicked off a voluntary three-day minicamp. “So, that’s comforting.”

Added Howard: “It’s a business so you’ve got to understand that. I really wasn’t hurt about that [the trade rumors] or anything.”

Howard -- intentionally or unintentionally -- may have played a role in keeping the trade speculation alive.

Back in early April, the library of photos showing Howard in a Bears uniform were hidden from public view on his official Instagram account, which alarmed many of Howard’s followers.

All of the pictures had been restored with the original dates on them as of Tuesday.

“Wasn’t nothing to it,” Howard said of the photos' disappearance. “Just a story people made up.”

Howard wouldn’t say whether he personally took down the pictures, or even acknowledge that the photos had indeed at one point gone missing from his Instagram account.

“I don’t know,” Howard said. “You can go there now and see if they’re on there. I don’t know.”

When informed that people can once again view the pictures in question online, Howard responded, “I guess they have always been up then.”

Howard, who rushed for 1,313 yards as a rookie in 2016, finished last season with 1,122 rushing yards. Howard is tied for first among all NFL players with 12 regular-season 100-yard rushing games since the start of 2016.

The former fifth-round pick out of Indiana believes he can sustain the same level of success in the new offensive system installed by head coach Matt Nagy, who joined the Bears after a long stint serving under veteran playcaller Andy Reid in Philadelphia and Kansas City.

“I feel like I can fit in pretty much any offense,” Howard said.