Bears’ Ryan Poles reveals next steps Ozzy Trapilo must take for full injury return

After suffering a ruptured patellar tendon, Chicago Bears left tackle Ozzy Trapilo was expected to miss an extended amount of time. But Trapilo has beaten the odds and made a miraculous recovery, earning a spot on the 53-man roster.

Still, the tackle is coming back from a serious injury. For as impressive as his recovery has been, Chicago doesn’t want to rush him further. General manager Ryan Poles wants to see Trapilo earn more reps on the practice field against live competition. Once he does, playing regular season football becomes much more realistic, via the GM’s Tuesday press conference.

“Practice. The big advantage of him coming back when he did, is really the padded practices, team periods,” Poles said. “Really testing his mobility, anchor. He looks fabulous where he is. But he’s playing football. There’s definitely rust to knock off. I don’t know how long that’ll take before he’s involved in the gameplan. Too early to tell ready right now.”

“When he got back, one of our big concerns was how many padded practices could he get,” he continued. “Once we get going here, those start to drop off. We’ll get through those padded practices and see how he holds up.”

The Bears are just two weeks away from their season opener against the Carolina Panthers, meaning Trapilo won’t have much time to ramp up. It wouldn’t be shocking to see him inactive to start the season. But by at least making his return in training camp, Trapilo has opened his window and gotten closer to a full injury return.

Chicago Bears’ Ozzy Trapilo looking to reclaim glory

Trapilo, who was a second-round pick, initially began his rookie season on the bench. But after injuries to Braxton Jones and Theo Benedet, he was thrust into a starting role at left tackle. Trapilo ultimately appeared in 14 games as a rookie, starting six of them. One of those games was the Bears’ Wild Card win over the Green Bay Packers.

For his efforts, Trapilo earned a 69.9 grade from Pro Football Focus, ranking 37/89 tackles. His run blocking wasn’t fantastic, ranking 50th (63.6), but Trapilo showed a real strength when pass blocking, ranking 37th (71.5).

The Bears plan to enter their 2026 season with Jones starting at left tackle. Barring a rash of poor play, he should hold that role throughout Trapilo’s recovery. What happens when the sophomore left tackle is fully healthy isn’t yet known. But Poles’ biggest priority is just getting him back on the field.

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