The Chicago Bears are getting an unexpectedly upbeat sign on left tackle Ozzy Trapilo, whose recovery from a torn patellar tendon has moved faster than anyone around the team seems to have anticipated.
Offensive line coach Dan Roushar said the progress has been unlike anything he has seen, and he said the team trainer has not seen many players come back the way Trapilo has. Roushar said he expects Trapilo could be back in team drills soon.
"I think we're getting closer. We've done post-work with him on bodies. It's certainly different than actually going out there and putting it all together, but I've been really encouraged with what he's done so far."
Trapilo has already been working in settings that are close to contact, and the Bears are keeping the approach measured. They are not trying to speed the process up, but if he keeps clearing each checkpoint, the team will keep moving him toward the starting lineup. Roushar stressed that this is not about forcing the issue.
"We'd rather be a day too late than a day too early with putting him on the field," Dan Roushar said.
That caution is part of what makes the current update stand out. The Bears had expected a much longer road, so being this far along already puts Trapilo ahead of schedule.
The real next step is team work. If he is not there yet, then he still appears to be a few weeks from seeing an NFL field. The Bears will want him in team drills for a week or two to see how his body handles the workload before they consider putting him in the lineup.
That leaves Week 6 as a possible optimistic target, and if that holds, it would be a major development for Chicago.
Trapilo’s rookie season was already interrupted. He was injured early in the year and ended up starting only six games as a rookie. Now, after the patellar injury, he has a chance to start in more games than he did before.
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