Chicago Bears news: Danny Trevathan may not be ready for training camp

Chicago Bears linebacker Danny Trevathan is reportedly at risk of missing training camp with a knee injury he suffered last season.

The Chicago Bears entered the 2016 offseason with a massive hole at inside linebacker. The team was ready to move on from the Shea McClellin experience and clearly wanted to upgrade their stock of players at the position. As free agency began, the Bears signed Danny Trevathan away from the Denver Broncos.

Later in free agency, Ryan Pace signed Jerrell Freeman to be Trevathan’s running mate and also drafted Nick Kwiatkoski in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft. The Bears clearly felt that they had a major hole at the position and did not hold back their efforts in filling it.

Freeman had a great first year with the Bears and Kwiatkoski showed a lot of long-term promise. Trevathan on the other hand only appeared in nine games. First, he missed a few games with a thumb injury and then suffered a major right knee injury in Week 12 that ended his season.

Trevathan was an impact player when on the field but the injuries are obviously a concern. Unfortunately, Trevathan’s knee issues are not a thing of the past as he reportedly may not be healthy in time for training camp.

A starting inside linebacker duo of Freeman and Kwiatkoski has great potential but pairing a fully-healthy Trevathan with Freeman gives them one of the best groups at the position in the NFL.

Trevathan is a big-time playmaker who makes the Bears defense much better. If he can stay healthy, the Bears have a strong front seven to build their defense around. That being said, his presence in the middle of the field will be missed if he has to miss some more time.

Next: Bears' Jonathan Bullard looking to bounce back in 2017

This situation reminds me of Pernell McPhee last year. McPhee struggled with a knee injury throughout last offseason. It did not originally look like McPhee would miss time in 2016 but he ended up spending the beginning of the year on the PUP list, forcing him to miss the first six games of the season.

Let’s just hope the same situation does not play out when it comes to Trevathan this season.