The Chicago Bears have had some serious misfortune at left tackle over the past couple of years. It looked like Braxton Jones might be a long-term option. Injury setbacks have weakened those hopes. A broken leg ended his 2024 season, and he wasn’t able to fully recover from that last season before being benched. Now he’s dealing with another lower-body problem in training camp, forcing him to miss time. Former 3rd-round pick Kiran Amegadjie hasn’t taken the next step the team hoped for. Theo Benedet just doesn’t have the pass-protecting skills. Thankfully, it looked like Ozzy Trapilo would be the answer.
The 2nd-round pick was developing into a quality starter by the end of last January’s regular season. Then he tore his patellar tendon against the Green Bay Packers in the playoffs. Initial fears were he could miss the entirety of the 2026 season, putting the Bears in a tough spot to find a solution. In the end, they brought back Jones and signed former 1st-round pick Jedrick Wills to kick-start another competition. However, Albert Breer of the MMQB offered an update that provides fresh hope.
“There’s a lot less certainty opposite Wright, where Braxton Jones, Jedrick Wills and Kiran Amegadjie are duking it out to start at left tackle. Both Jones and Wills have been healthy, which is a plus. But with Jones out Sunday, Amegadjie took the reps with the starters. And it looks like Ozzy Trapilo, who started six regular-season games at left tackle, then tore his patellar tendon in the wild-card round, might be back sooner than expected.”
Ozzy Trapilo is defying serious odds.
The first indication that the recovery was going well was when a workout video surfaced in July. It showed Trapilo going through weightlifting. What stood out the most was the lack of a brace on his surgically-repaired knee. It suggested that the rehab was doing better than expected. It offered hope that Trapilo might not miss the entire season after all. Maybe they could get him back at some point midseason. From what Breer is saying, it could end up being even earlier than that.
Remember, Ozzy Trapilo suffered the injury in early January. A typical patellar tendon injury takes up to 12 months to fully recover. However, there are cases where it only takes nine months. That means the left tackle could be back as early as mid-to-late September. That said, the Bears likely won’t want to push the timeline for a player so important to their future. A likelier outcome would be acting as if he’s on the PUP list. Players who start on it at the beginning of a season miss the first six games. That means Trapilo would be looking at a return October 22nd against the New England Patriots.
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This is fantastic news, if true.
People were already assuming the worst. Patella injuries are notoriously difficult to return from in football. There aren’t a ton of success stories compared to ACL, MCL, and meniscus tears. It was especially worrying because of how big Trapilo is. Could the knee recover enough to maintain his mobility? That is why many felt it might take a long time for him to reach anywhere close to full health. Apparently, those people underestimated his determination to recover. In hindsight, this might explain why the Bears weren’t more aggressive in finding left tackle help.
This team played some of its best football offensively when Trapilo was on the field. Getting him back only increases optimism even further for what this group can accomplish. If he can regain the form he had before the injury, it would be one of the greater comeback stories in recent team memory. On top of that, it would have major implications for the 2027 NFL draft.
