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Ozzy Trapilo's Return Progresses But There's Reason for Caution

It's full speed ahead for the Bears tackle coming back from knee surgery but one knee injury disaster can suggest caution is the best approach.
Gene Chamberlain|
Ozzy Trapilo has worked his way back from a patellar tendon injury early but the Bears can't abandon caution yet.
Ozzy Trapilo has worked his way back from a patellar tendon injury early but the Bears can't abandon caution yet. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

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Chicago Bears

From Ben Johnson's description of Ozzy Trapilo's recover, it seems the team needs to see more from him yet in practice before letting him start a game at left tackle after his patellar tendon injury of last season.

"I think he still is gaining confidence in just being able to put all of his weight in it and being a powerful player," Johnson said Wednesday prior to practice. "And yet in some ways he's a little bit more flexible and fluid than he was before, which is amazing."

The decision seems to be getting closer, though, as Trapilo as going through a full practice on Wednesday.

"It's a matter of time now before we feel like he's ready for a game," Johnson added.

An ominous injury to a Green Bay Packers starting offensive lineman could be interpreted as a warning for the Bears as Trapilo continues to get ready.

It's creates concern the Bears could be rushing tackle Ozzy Trapilo's recovery.

Right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele had a season-ending patellar tendon injury to his right knee last year. Regarded as one of the Packers' best linemen, it was a terrible blow and came to the team at the point last season when Micah Parsons season-ending knee injury occurred. Bako-Bewele returned this year, and on Sunday against the Jets suffered another patellar tendon injury to the same knee. He's done for the season.

The scary situation for the Bears is Ozzy Trapilo returned from a patellar tendon injury with similar or even less rehab time than Bako-Bewele, and the Bears had hopes he could be ready to return to action. At least they had him at practice Friday on a full basis.

It seems logical they plan to use him soon because if he wasn't going to be ready by Week 5 they could have simply left him on injured reserve and saved themselves the roster spot over the first four weeks.

The situation with Bako-Bewele makes it easy to believe the Bears are being too ambitious with Trapilo. However, this might not be the case.

Similar but not the same

Besides the fact players can respond to treatment and rehab from surgery differently, these were two entirely different situations even if they were patellar tendon injuries.

Trapilo's injury was severe enough it required surgery and Bako-Bewele's initial injury was not. This might scare a Bears fan even more, but it's the exact opposite situation in this case.

The Packers and Bako-Bewele opted for a minor surgical procedure and had damaged tissue from around the tendon removed. Then he suffered the injury Sunday against the Jets. Would he be out now if they had a full surgery done? No one will know now.

In Trapilo's case, the Bears were more aggressive with what looked to be a more serious injury than the one Bako-Bewele reportedly initially suffered. So the worse injury could have been a break of sorts for Trapilo. He had the surgery, did the rehab, and the Bears believe he's now on the brink of being ready to return. Two weeks ago, as the season began, Ben Johnson described that process.

Braxton Jones emerged from the first two weeks of the season with a Pro Football Focus pass-blocking grade higher than Joe Thuney's. He has the third-highest overall grade on the starting line, according to PFF. Also, backup Theo Benedet has had reps in both games and has the second-highest grade for all offensive line blockers in that time.

Sometimes PFF grades don't go hand in hand with reality. Witness the Caleb Williams grade from Week 1. But in this case it seems the Bears agree. They didn't replace Jones with Benedet Sunday in the game for punishment or injury.

"Braxton has been pretty good," Johnson said. "I think he's done a nice job. We talked about platooning him just a little bit there with Theo just to keep him fresh late in games.

"I think he strains. He finishes. His understanding of the run game has served him well and so I think he's done a nice job for two weeks in."

Essentially, the only problem the Bears had on the line was they didn't handle Minnesota's defensive front well in one game. The Vikings jammed up the formation of running lanes enough to keep Bears running backs from combining for 100 yards. It looked a bit like what the Rams did in the playoff game.

The last play of the game was a disaster coming off that left side of the Bears' line but tight end Colston Loveland was trying to block Will Turner. That's what happens when you put a pass catcher in front of a hard-charging defensive lineman. If it had been a tackle blocking, perhaps they meet with a different result.

Bears caution is individually based

Nevertheless, the Bears can't be too cautious with Trapilo. They need to be absolutely certain he has the ability to step on the field and play, and to date he hasn't had contact in padded practice to sufficiently test the knee.

If they're seeing their blocking on the left side the same way PFF has, it seems unnecessary to rush Trapilo back into the fray even if they've made the unncessary decision to have him take up a roster spot when he wasn't ready to play.

The Eagles bring a menacing defensive line to Soldier Field Monday night and that alone is an invitation to push the Trapilo button. But they should do so only if absolutely certain their 2025 second-round pick can stand up to the rigors of such a game.

The Packers situation is a bit different because the injury was not exactly the same, but it's still cause to think about taking things slowly. The play of Jones and Benedet buys the Bears time for now.

Caution can rarely be faulted. The Bears have enough injury concerns at another key offensive position right now to keep tackle in the background for future reference.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.

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