Bears' Ozzy Trapilo Defies NFL History With His Improbable Return From Injury

Ozzy Trapilo was supposed to miss most of the 2026 NFL season after he ruptured his patellar tendon in the Chicago Bears' Wild Card victory over the Green Bay Packers in January, but it looks like he never got the memo.

The Bears activated Trapilo from the Physically Unable to Perform list (PUP) on Sunday, just one day after the Bears' dominant preseason Week 1 win.

To be clear, this doesn't necessarily mean that Trapilo is going to jump right back into the starting left tackle spot. He still needs time to ramp up and condition his body for football again, which means partaking in multiple padded practices. This is something that general manager Ryan Poles stressed last weekend, which is when we first learned that Trapilo could return far soon than expected.

However, the very fact that Trapilo has been activated from the PUP list is little short of a miracle. NFL players simply aren't supposed to recover from ruptured patellar tendons within seven months, and the weight of history was against Trapilo from the beginning.

NFL players typically face long roads to recovery from a ruptured patellar tendon

Chicago Bears OT Ozzy Trapilo warms up during minicamp at Halas Hall. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Thankfully, Trapilo's injury is somewhat rare; a ruptured patellar tendon is arguably the most difficult injury from which to recover, and most NFL players face a long road to recovery.

Jimmy Graham ruptured his patellar tendon in November of 2015 and it took him nine months to get back to football activities. Victor Cruz suffered this same injury in October of 2014, and he was sidelined until training cap the following July.

More recently, Josh Simmons ruptured his patellar tendon in October of 2024, tanking his draft stock ahead of the 2025 NFL draft. He was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs late in Round 1, and even though he did individual workouts and drills during rookie minicamp, Simmons did not do any team drills until training camp.

As you can see, the typical timeline for an NFL player to return to football after a ruptured patellar tendon is at least nine months. Trapilo, on the other hand, is already cleared for football activity just seven months removed from his injury.

The Bottom Line

Ben Johnson and Ozzy Trapil — Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson talks with OT Ozzy Trapilo during practice. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Any way you slice it, this is a remarkable, almost superhuman return from injury for Trapilo. He has defied NFL history and deserves no small amount of credit for the work he put in while rehabbing his knee.

He may not be ready to go for Week 1, but there's no doubt now that he will be able to start for the Bears early in the 2026 season. It's hard to overstate how important that is for the Bears. While I believed that they'd be fine without Trapilo for eight or nine games, no NFL team wants to be just 'fine' at such an important position.

Additionally, my initial optimism was starting to look misplaced. Braxton Jones began suffering injury troubles himself early in August, and in his stead the Bears turned to a competition between Kiran Amegadjie and Jedrick Wills Jr. in their first preseason game. If either Amegadjie or Wills had to start a game for the Bears, they were going to be in trouble.

But with Trapilo's return now imminent, the Bears' left tackle competition is at an end, and they now have tremendous depth for the position. Bears fans, the coaches, and the players too can breathe a little easier.

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