The start of Week 3 of training camp has not gone well for the Chicago Bears fan base.
Coby Bryant is now out four to six months after getting knee surgery; the Bears don't know if Luther Burden III will be back for the season opener against the Carolina Panthers, and who knows about Kyler Gordon's recovery. The Bears are filled with injuries on the roster, and there's no sign of it slowing down.
There was one good piece of news, though, from Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer hinting that starting left tackle Ozzy Trapilo might be back sooner than expected. Well, Bears fans can hear it straight from one of the bosses: general manager Ryan Poles.
Ryan Poles updates on when Ozzy Trapilo could return to practice with the Bears
Trapilo is currently recovering from rupturing his patellar tendon in last year's playoff win over the Green Bay Packers. Poles spoke exclusively with CHGO, where he gave an encouraging update on Trapilo's recovery and potential timeline.
"Yeah, we've talked about the different scenarios, whether he comes back and has a little bit of training camp, if he comes back in September. I think the big thing for us is padded practices. If you get too far down the line, it's really hard to get that physical practice that you need to prepare for games. So we've kind of looked at that on the calendar and want to map that out for him so he feels confident coming back, and so yeah, we kind of mapped that out and hopefully he's able to capture some of those padded practices.
When asked whether that means a training camp return is on the table, Poles needed only one word.
"Potentially."
As a rookie in 2025, Trapilo was impressive filling in at left tackle in the final two months of the regular season. He allowed 15 pressures, three quarterback hits, and two sacks in 283 pass-blocking snaps. Pro Football Focus gave him a 69.9 overall grade, ranking 37th out of 89 offensive tackles. He also had a pass-blocking grade of 71.5 and a run-blocking grade of 63.6.
The Bears' currently situation is rough with Braxton Jones out with an injury, so he can't compete for the starting left tackle job. Right now before Jones returns, it's between Kiran Amegadjie and Jedrick Wills Jr.
Read more: Bears' first unofficial depth chart finally clears up biggest camp questions
Returning in the next month would be ideal for Trapilo to help the Bears address the injury concerns they have had. At this point, just having him back would be great, as any good news is needed now.
Add us as a preferred source on Google