Behind the recovery process that has Chicago Bears LT Ozzy Trapilo on the doorstep of playing

On Wednesday, Ozzy Trapilo made it all sound so simple.

"Today was a good day for me," he said, after a full practice without limitations.

The Chicago Bears offensive tackle is somehow on the doorstep of playing again after recovering from a torn patellar tendon, which is a process that usually takes close to a year. 

This often begs the question of how Trapilo recovered so quickly?

Did Pope Leo XIV step in? Is he just a different species of human? Was there an experimental medication involved?

It wasn’t anything special. It was just Trapilo finding his mental fortitude and sticking to it for months.

"Stack days," Trapilo said, "and here I am

Big picture view:

The football world might’ve been shocked that Trapilo was ahead of schedule in his recovery, but he wasn’t. He wasn’t even shocked that he was significantly ahead.

It’s because he was so focused.

"Show up every day and just try and chip away at it," Trapilo said. "There's nothing else you can do. You just gotta show up, get a little bit better every day, rehab a little bit more and more and more."

Before Trapilo was cleared for team drills, he spent most of his time in the training room rehabbing and recovering.

That was part of it, even when he was limited in practices. He had to keep on task and the Bears staff was paramount in helping him chart that path, too.

"I'm still in that same mindset: just show up, chip away at it, get a little better every day," Trapilo said. "They're working with me and we're just trying to let this thing unfold."

This Bears staff has more experience with offensive linemen returning from surgery. Offensive tackle Braxton Jones returned from a broken ankle and struggled to connect the mental side of the game with the physical side of the game.

They’ve said they’d rather be a week late in playing Trapilo than a week early.

But, it’s impossible to ignore the work he’s put into returning to the field as quickly as he possibly can.

"I think he still is gaining confidence and just being able to put all of his weight into it and being a powerful player," Bears head coach Johnson said. "And yet, in some ways, he's a little bit more flexible and fluid than he was before, which is amazing."

It’s not all perfect. There are still obstacles for Trapilo to clear.

On Wednesday, he cleared another: experiencing different kinds of pass rushes again for the first time since he left that Wild Card game against the Packers with his injury.

"Just being able to go out there and experience it – like a speed-to-power rust – at first, you're a little timid," Trapilo said. "Then you feel one and you're like, ‘All right, I'm good. We're able to do this.’"

He’s gotten to where his next steps will most likely be on an NFL field for a regular season game.

What's next:

For Trapilo to officially be back on the playing field, he needs to get back up to speed. He needs to show the team he can move close to how he used to and that he can block at a high level again.

He has to show the skillset that earned him the starting left tackle job can emerge again.

He’ll show that in practice.

"I'm able to sort of put myself in some of those situations that you end up in Sunday, especially with the pads on," Trapilo said. "That's really beneficial to go through. Speed to power, a bull rush, stuff like that, kind of just build the confidence back up."

The confidence will come. It’s part of the process that Trapilo has mapped out.

The coaches know it’s only a matter of time, too.

"It's a credit to him and those guys that have been working with him," Johnson said. "It's just a matter of time now before we feel like he's ready for a game."