Adam Schefter dropped the update Sunday: the Bears activated left tackle Ozzy Trapilo, who tore his patellar tendon during January's playoff win over the Packers. It's the kind of injury that can wipe out an entire season, and for a while that looked like the realistic outcome in Chicago.
Trapilo started 6 games at left tackle in 2025 and had positioned himself as the Bears' long-term answer on the blindside before the injury hit. Instead of a lost year, his rehab has reportedly moved faster than anyone expected, and the team activated him off the physically unable-to-perform list before practice this past Sunday, clearing him to work in full pads during camp.
Bears offensive line coach Dan Roushar has been careful not to rush it, saying he'd rather be a day too late than a day too early putting Trapilo back on the field. That caution makes sense given the injury, but activation is still a real green light — not just a paperwork move.
Field Yates framed it plainly: welcomed positive injury news, with the real question now being when Trapilo can actually get into game action.
Some welcomed positive injury news for the Bears. We will see when Trapilo can be ready for game action but this is significant.
The timing matters because left tackle is still very much up for grabs in Chicago. Braxton Jones had been the frontrunner in a 3-man competition before his own knee injury, and Kiran Amegadjie and Jedrick Wills split snaps behind him in the preseason opener against Cleveland — snaps the staff admitted weren't as clean as they'd like. With Week 1 still 4 weeks out, Trapilo's activation reopens a spot that looked closed just weeks ago.
Nobody's penciling Trapilo in as a Week 1 starter yet, and the Bears have every reason to be deliberate given how serious the injury was. But going from a potential season-long absence to full-pads reps in mid-August is a real swing for an offensive line that needs stability up front.