Long's steadying presence on field positive sign for Bears
BOURBONNAIS - It doesn't seem that long ago that Bears guard Kyle Long was a frisky colt, inexperienced but blessed with enough God-given size, strength and athleticism to make him a first-round draft pick and a 2013 opening-day starter as a rookie.
But Long turns 30 in December, and his three Pro Bowl berths are outnumbered by his surgeries, including three since he last played in a game. That makes him a huge question mark for 2018 and could have a monumental influence on the Bears' season. With a healthy Long playing at his former elite level, the offensive line would be a team strength. Without Long, it could cause a negative chain reaction on the O-line that could hamstring the creativity expected from Matt Nagy's diverse attack.
So, when Long lined up at right guard with the first team throughout Friday afternoon's first practice of training camp, which was conducted under waves of heavy rain showers, it was as positive an early sign as the Bears and Long could hope for.
"It's Day One, and I was out there at practice, and I got to hit other guys and that was fun," the 6-foot-6, 316-pound Long said. "I don't look much into psychological hurdles, but physical hurdle, yes, it was. I had a lot going on this offseason; just really happy to be out here."
Long started 47 of 48 games his first three seasons after the Bears drafted him 20th overall. He made the Pro Bowl in each of his first three seasons, as a guard the first two and a tackle in 2015.
But he's missed 14 games in the two years since then, with a litany of injuries, including a torn labrum in the 2016 preseason that he played through, and a fractured right ankle with ligament damage in Week 10 of that regular season.
The ankle surgery left him less than 100 percent at the start of last season, when he missed the first two games and appeared less than 100 percent even after he returned. He played through that as well, until aggravating the shoulder to such an extent that it ended his 2017 season in early December.
Since then, Long has endured surgeries on his neck, elbow and shoulder, the last of which was probably long overdue.
So the plan throughout the offseason was to proceed cautiously but to have Long back at the start of training camp and then locked in and 100 percent on Sept. 9 in Green Bay.
"It's important to have him healthy," Nagy said after Friday's practice. "That's something that we focused on in OTAs, so that he can come here and get the reps. It's important to get those physical reps. He got a lot of mental reps in the OTAs, but he's a big part of this offensive line, and I think everyone is well aware of that.
"He's a large individual. He's huge. And he's very athletic. The other part that I like about Kyle is from Day One, he's been very vocal, and he's been a leader on that offensive line. He doesn't miss many details. He answers a lot of questions. With the skill-player questions that I get, he answers them sometimes. So he knows what he's doing."
Long has become one of the senior members on a team that has gotten significantly younger, which makes his veteran presence even more important as the rebuild continue. Outside linebacker Sam Acho is the only potential starter on either side of the ball who's older than Long.
"We're young, a young football team, and we have a young quarterback," Nagy said. "When you have guys who have experience and have the mentality that Kyle does … he's an alpha dog. He likes to take control on that offensive line, and it's a good fit with the rest of the guys."
Slow-walking Long's recovery appears as if it may have been the ideal course.
"You go back to OTAs, and the reason we did that was so they'd be ready to go now," Nagy said, referencing Long and WR Allen Robinson, who also practiced Friday.
"Now it's go time."
• Bob LeGere is a senior writer at Pro Football Weekly. Follow Bob's Bears reports on Twitter @BobLeGere or @PFWeekly.