Good morning, Bears fans!
Well, the Bears had 10 public practices scheduled and three have already been wiped due to Chicago turning into a wet, humid and tornadic hellscape.
Worst summer weather ever.
Good newsletter ahead though … Thanks for being here.
Headlines
Coby Bryant out 4-6 months after knee surgery: Not the 8-10 week, no surgery timeline that was originally reported.(ESPN)
Ozzy Trapilo back sooner than expected? Come again? The second-year OT could return from a ruptured patellar tendon by the end of training camp. More on both items below. (CHGO)
Kyler Murray named Vikings starter: JJ McCarthy’s time in Minnesota isn’t officially over, but it’s going to take a Kyler injury (or a really bad start) to get Nine back on the field. (Purple Insider)
Micah Parsons says Week 6 is ‘most optimistic’ return date: That’s one week after the Bears come calling at Lambeau. (Acme)
Packers will wear ‘Rivalries’ uniform in Week 5: But the Bears won’t wear their Rivalries uniform until the Packers game on Christmas? Gotta admit I’m not really following … Shouldn’t both teams be wearing them in each game? (Packers.com)
Polar (Bear) Opposites
Ozzy Trapilo working out earlier this summer (Instagram)
We’re usually given a choice of receiving the good or bad news first, but that wasn’t the case for Bears fans on Tuesday.
The day started well enough with Bears GM Ryan Poles telling Hoge and Jahns that OT Ozzy Trapilo could return by the end of camp if all goes well.
That was a bit of a brain melter considering Trapilo’s ruptured patellar tendon injury was originally thought to be a season eraser before some optimism he might be able to return later this season crept in.
But now he could possibly crash a left tackle competition that’s currently sitting in neutral? In-sane.But the good vibes only lasted a few hours because Ben Johnson kicked off his press conference with a bomb: Top free agent acquisition Coby Bryant is out 4-6 months after knee surgery.
What happened to the original 8-10 weeks that ESPN insider Adam Schefter originally reported? Johnson said he didn’t know; he’d been operating under this possible outcome since Bryant went down in camp’s first padded practice. (No one asked him about Rome Odunze immediately informing Kay Adams that Bryant would “be fine,” but that interview will now forever be hilarious to me in a gallows humor sort of way.) The source of the confusion seems pretty clear, though. Whoever was feeding Schefter’s pipeline didn’t think surgery was necessary at that point when it actually turned out that it was.
So where to start? Let’s go with Ozzy’s good news.
It remains to be seen if Trapilo hits the benchmarks the Bears need him to hit for an early return or what level of effectiveness he’ll achieve. Though ruptured patellar tendons have ceased to be a career death knell, a recent study found that most injured players still return at a lower athletic level.
What level would he be coming down from? It’s hard to tell considering he’s still in the early days of his career. Trapilo performed well throughout his rookie season, taking over the starting job in Week 12 before suffering his injury in the waning moments of the Packers wild card game.
His stats were impressive: Just two sacks and 15 pressures allowed across 491 snaps, good enough for a 69.9 grade from PFF.
When he returns, Trapilo will be joining a left tackle battle that isn’t really exciting anyone. Braxton Jones is battling an early camp injury after last season’s health issues; Jedrick Wills and Kiran Amegadjie aren’t anyone’s first options.
I went on GN Sports on Sunday night and was asked by Kaitlin Sharkey and Kevin Powell about the potential winner of the left tackle battle. Trapilo wasn’t an option then, but 48 hours later, everything’s changed. Unreal.
And for the secondary, what is there really to say?
Getting through the first month of the season without Bryant seemed annoying but doable. Not getting him back until we’re shopping for Christmas presents is something else completely.
Throw in Poles’ vague comment that they’re confident Kyler Gordon will return “sometime this year” and we’re looking at another year of millions of defensive dollars dressed in warmups on game days.
The Bears defense will just have to find a way to hang on while aided by an offense capable of producing fireworks. Games like last year’s 49ers track meet may turn into the norm and not the exception.
And everyone should start paying close attention to Xavier Woods. The veteran safety has 121 NFL starts across his time with the Cowboys, Titans, Vikings and Panthers and played under defensive backs coach Al Harris in Dallas.
“The train keeps going and new guys will jump on,” Ben Johnson told Hoge and Jahns. “It'll be similar to last year and every year I've been in this league where other guys get opportunities to step up and Xavier is going to have one now too."
What do you think? Pop into the Bears By 7 community to chat!
Quotable
“Coby is the template for how we all want our team to play.”
Worth Your Time
Raymont Harris told Spiegel & Holmes a great story about offering advice to a fourth-string QB named Tom Brady when they were both with the Patriots. The Ultra Back! (104.3 The Score/Twitter)
Phil Thompson on Caleb Williams’ burgeoning relationship with new center Garrett Bradbury (Chicago Tribune)
Lester Wiltfong Jr. recaps the Bears’ “most physical practice yet” (Windy City Gridiron)
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