Ozzy Trapilo is back in the mix, and that changes everything for the Bears’ left tackle picture.
Chicago had been talking about the possibility of activating Trapilo from the Physically Unable to Perform list as soon as training camp, and now that hope has become reality. The Bears officially brought him back less than a week after the GM said it was possible. Trapilo is still working his way back from a torn patellar tendon, so his ramp-up will be gradual, but the door is open again.
That doesn’t mean he’s walking straight into the starting job. The Bears can ease him back in, and that matters because the further a season goes, the less work teams tend to do with pads on. Getting him active now gives Chicago a chance to rebuild him into football shape the right way, without rushing the physical side of the return.
It also gives Trapilo a full season to practice with the team and get used to contact. And while the Bears can afford to be patient, activating him this early suggests they expect him to matter at some point.
He probably won’t even be in the left tackle competition for a couple of weeks, but the move leaves room for a bigger role later. Had Chicago left him on PUP, he would have missed six games, so there is at least a small possibility that if he responds well, he could be back in the first six games of the regular season.
That creates a real wrinkle in a competition that was already crowded.
Jones looks like the front-runner right now, but he lost the left tackle job last year because of injury, and he also missed the preseason opener because he is not healthy.
Meanwhile, the Bears rotated Kiran Amegadjie and Jedrick Wills in that preseason game. Both have shown flashes in camp, but neither made a decisive push for the job in the opener.
Trapilo’s return also forces the roster math into focus. Chicago will have to cut one, and possibly two, tackles. Theo Benedet is expected to stay as the swing tackle, and with Trapilo, Benedet, and Darnell Wright locked in, only one or two more tackles can survive the final group.
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