Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles isn’t afraid to take calculated swings on former 1st round picks from Alabama. He proved that in 2022 when he picked up Alex Leatherwood off waivers from the Raiders. It didn’t work out, but the idea was sound. Four years later, Poles decided to try again. This time, the Bears signed former 10th overall pick Jedrick Wills, formerly of the Cleveland Browns. Many had compared the 26-year-old to Jason Peters with his incredible mixture of size and athleticism. However, after a solid start to his career, he was derailed by a knee injury that knocked him out for most of 2024 and 2025.
Most will take that to mean he’s damaged goods. One doesn’t miss almost two full seasons without a knee ever being the same. As it turns out, Wills’ injury was rather unique. Unlike most knee injuries, his didn’t involve significant ligament damage. He suffered something called Varus/Valgus. In other words, his knee was knocked out of alignment. That meant he required something called an osteotomy, cutting bone to realign the joints and get everything back in place.
“I injured a couple of ligaments, but usually when people … they get fell on or something in their knee, they mess up all their ligaments and people can just go in and repair it and they get healthy. I had minimal damage to my ligaments. It was more of an alignment issue from where I got fell on. So … wasn’t my knee. They had to go into my femur and do what was called an osteotomy to kind of correct my alignment. So my knee is healthy. It was a matter of just letting that heal and letting my knee get healthy. So it took a little bit longer than just the regular injury, but it’s doing better now.”
This update is potentially great news for Jedrick Wills and the Bears.
The key part of that explanation is that the ligaments took minimal damage. Often, the fastest way for athletes to lose a step is significant damage to the ACL, PCL, meniscus, or other parts of the knee. In this case, it was more of a bone issue. Such injuries tend to heal with no long-term concerns. However, the recovery time is long. It can take a year for the knee to regain full function. That is why Wills opted to take 2025 off. He wanted to make sure there were no setbacks before continuing his career.
This is not a normal injury. Pro players don’t usually suffer it. The good news is that those who have done so didn’t show any debilitating effects upon returning. Jaelan Phillips endured that type of knee injury in 2024. He returned last season and finished with 73 quarterback pressures. Aidan Hutchinson had one that same year. He finished with 14.5 sacks for the Detroit Lions. That leads you to believe Jedrick Wills should be the healthiest he’s been in years. He has a chance to start fresh under a coaching staff well-equipped to bring out his best.
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Wills wouldn’t be the first tackle to overcome a brutal injury.
Injuries almost derailed Jackie Slater in the early 1980s, after he didn’t start until his fourth season. He still managed to carve out a Hall of Fame career. Anthony Munoz underwent three major knee surgeries before even reaching the NFL. Marc Colombo, the Bears’ 1st round pick in 2002, was beset by injuries across his three seasons with the team. He went to Dallas, stayed healthy, and helped them make the playoffs three times in four years. It all comes down to how resilient a player is.
We’re about to find out what Jedrick Wills is made of. He went through a grueling recovery process. Some players would’ve chosen to walk away. We just saw Drew Dalman retire at age 27, only a year older than Wills. Yet the tackle wishes to return. That speaks to a love of football and a competitive desire to prove to everybody he can still be the player everyone expected him to become in Cleveland. The Bears are prepared to give him that opportunity.
