It is hard to believe the Chicago Bears are genuinely talking about the return of left tackle Ozzy Trapilo this early in the year after he tore his patellar tendon last year. Even offensive line coach Dan Roushar noted that it is something he has not seen before. He called the recovery ‘unbelievable.’
Chicago Bears have more positive news on Ozzy Trapilo
The Bears coach added that the team trainer has not seen many players recover in the way that Trapilo has. Roushar noted that he believes Trapilo will be able to return to team drills shortly.
"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."
So, Trapilo has already been working in environments that are close to contact. The team is not going to rush him, but if he continues to hit the checkpoints, they will continue to progress him closer to the starting lineup. Roushar made it clear that none of this is the team pushing him to get ahead.
"We'd rather be a day too late than a day too early with putting him on the field," Dan Roushar said.
That is what makes his potential return so impressive. The team is playing things slowly and was anticipating him to be out for much longer. So, for the team to express patience and have him this far ahead of schedule shows that he has earned it.
Still, the question is when he will start to see an NFL field. If Trapilo is not in team activities yet, he is still a few weeks away. They are going to want him to give a week or two in team drills to see how his body reacts before getting him into the lineup.
So, if he is a week or two away from team drills, and that would make him a few weeks away from starting, the team could be looking at something like Week 6 as the most optimistic timeline for him to return. That is well ahead of schedule and would be a huge win.
Because Trapilo was a rookie, was injured early in the year, and then suffered his patellar injury, he only started in six games as a rookie. He has a real shot to start in more games after his patellar injury than he did in the season before it.
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