When the Chicago Bears General Manager said that he had a hope that left tackle Ozzy Trapilo could be activated from the Physically Unable to Perform list as soon as training camp, it was met with the thought that he was being optimistic. However, less than a week later, the team officially activated Trapilo. He will begin practicing slowly as he returns from an torn patellar tendon, but he will be back.
Chicago Bears Plan for Ozzy Trapilo to Return in 2026
As Poles highlighted, his return to practice does not mean he is returning to the starting lineup. However, there are only so many practices players can do with pads on. As the team gets later into the season, they start to do less work with pads on.
So, by getting Trapilo back now, they are going to be able to work him back into the physicality of the game without pushing him too hard or throwing him in without enough of a warm-up.
The team can still take things slow, but it does give him an entire season of practicing with the team and adjusting to contact.
Still, if they activated him this soon, it should be with the intention that he will enter the starting lineup at some point. It will likely be a couple of weeks before he is officially even in the left tackle competition.
However, the team could have kept him on the PUP, and he would have missed six games. There has to be a small thought that if he responds well, he could be back in the first six games of the regular season.
This puts a huge twist in the starting left tackle competition that is already a three-man battle as things stand.
Jones appears to be the leader as things stand right now. However, he lost the left tackle job last year due to injury, and he missed the preseason opener because he is not healthy.
The team rotated both Kiran Amegadjie and Jedrick Wills in the preseason opener. Both have flashed at times in training camp, but neither put their stamp on the job in the first preseason game.
With Trapilo on the active roster, the Bears will have to cut one, and potentially two, of their tackles. They are going to keep Theo Benedet as the swing tackle. With Trapilo, Benedet, and Darnell Wright making it, one or two more players will make it at most.
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