Chicago Bears fans received a significant update on offensive tackle Ozzy Trapilo’s recovery from a serious patellar tendon injury, and the news is exactly what Chicago needed to hear looking down the road.

The former second-round pick suffered the injury during the Bears’ wild card playoff game against the Green Bay Packers, an injury that comes with a brutal 9-to-12-month recovery timeline that initially put his 2026 season in serious jeopardy. Trapilo came on strong during his rookie season, establishing himself as potentially a legitimate long-term option at left tackle prior to suffering injury.

The Bears have been pretty noncommittal about Trapilo’s recovery timeline compared to the Carolina Panthers, who are dealing with a similar situation after their left tackle Ickey Ekwonu suffered a similar injury on the same day. While Carolina has been more transparent about his timeline, Chicago has kept things closer to the vest. General manager Ryan Poles addressed Trapilo’s status 12 days ago at the start of training camp, staying vague while hinting at positive progress.

“Ozzy’s doing a great job,” Poles said ahead of training camp. “He’s working his butt off. He looks good. So, he’s working to get back into being a football player again.”

Albert Breer delivers encouraging Ozzy Trapilo update after attending Chicago Bears training camp

The first real update about Trapilo’s timeline came from national insider Albert Breer, who spent time at Bears training camp over the weekend.

Breer had plenty of positive things to say about the team’s offense and young players while noting some concerns at depth positions. The biggest takeaway, however, was Breer saying that Trapilo might be back “sooner than expected” which lines up with what Poles has been saying between the lines about Trapilo doing a great job with his recovery process and looking great through it.

After taking in a Bears practice, @AlbertBreer lauds Caleb Williams’s work running the offense, tosses an interesting comp for young TE Colston Loveland and addresses a few position concerns he has https://t.co/fj6GgyfUJ9

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) August 9, 2026

Trapilo likely won’t return until November at the earliest, but for a team with playoff aspirations, getting him back for a late-season push would give Chicago another option to evaluate at left tackle. Even once he’s cleared to practice, it will still take a couple of weeks before he’s back in game shape. The full timeline remains a work in progress.

Current status of the team’s left tackle situation heading into the start of the preseason

In the meantime, the left tackle position has a more immediate concern. Braxton Jones is considered day-to-day after leaving practice with an injury late last week, leaving Jedrick Wills, Theo Benedet, and Kiran Amegadjie as the top options.

The Bears continue to rotate at that spot as head coach Ben Johnson hopes to ideally find an answer sooner rather than later.

“We’ll go as long as we need to,” Johnson said. “Even if that means going into the season, we’ll do whatever it takes.”

Getting Jones back into the fold before the preseason opener this weekend would help, as this week is when the staff plans to start seriously evaluating its starting option at the position. In regards to Trapilo’s recovery, it’s trending in a positive direction and that is the best news this team has gotten on that front all offseason.