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Another damn Long brother link
With no rehab and no practice restrictions, two-time Pro Bowl guard aiming to regain old form
By Mark Potash May 30, 2019, 4:17pm CDT Bears guard Kyle Long (75) returned from injured reserve to play in the Bears’ regular-season finale against the Vikings and the wild-card playoff game against the Eagles last season. Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
Fully healthy after three injury-marred seasons, Kyle Long feels like a new man at times.
“Sometimes when I do stuff physically now, people kind of look at me like a guy who came back from the dead — like, where has this guy been? And that’s nice,” Long said Wednesday after the Bears’ practice at Halas Hall. “I’d like to do it for a long time and be able to help my team any way I can.”
It remains to be seen if Long, who turned 30 last December, can regain his Pro Bowl form — or if he just can get through a 16-game season without another mishap. Since playing 47 of his first 48 games in the NFL from 2013 to 2015 — and making the Pro Bowl each season — Long has missed 22 games the last three seasons and played only 21 from start to finish.
But after recovering from a Week 8 injury to his right foot in time to play in the wild-card game against the Eagles, Long celebrated a hospital-free, rehab-free offseason by going on vacation.
“I got to leave the Halas Hall training room,” Long said. “I was in Hawaii for about 10 days, and that was nice. Hawaii’s beautiful. They love Olin [Kreutz, the former Bears center from Honolulu]. Somebody finds out you’re on the Bears, all they want to talk about is Olin, which is beautiful.”
Now, Long has reached another milestone. He’s fully participating in practices without needing maintenance days.
“Feels good — lucky to be out here and with my team in the spring,” Long said. “And happy to do it.”
Even before he was injured last year, the Bears had to limit Long’s work in training camp and through the season because of wear-and-tear issues. At this point, they don’t have to do that.
“He’s developing a consistency in his training,” Bears offensive line coach Harry Hiestand said. “When you’re in and you’re out, it’s hard to build consistency — that’s what I see right now from him. Gradually you can see the improvement fundamentally from him because he can put back-to-back-to-back days together. He can make a mistake and correct it and get better.”
There still was a reality to deal with. The Bears and Long agreed to restructure Long’s four-year, $40 million contract, which included a pay cut in 2019.
“I knew my position and their position, and we knew mutually we had to get something done,” Long said. “It was in the best of both our interests to secure my future here and secure some finances for things [the Bears] needed to handle.”
The agreement was reached with no hard feelings.
“Anytime somebody’s ripping a check out of your book, it’s no fun,” Long said. “But at the same time, you see it. I see it every day with the guys we’re practicing against — the new guys we’ve signed. It’s a good feeling knowing I did the right thing, and they did the right thing by me. They handled it the right way, and I respect them for it.”
...
With no rehab and no practice restrictions, two-time Pro Bowl guard aiming to regain old form
By Mark Potash May 30, 2019, 4:17pm CDT Bears guard Kyle Long (75) returned from injured reserve to play in the Bears’ regular-season finale against the Vikings and the wild-card playoff game against the Eagles last season. Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
Fully healthy after three injury-marred seasons, Kyle Long feels like a new man at times.
“Sometimes when I do stuff physically now, people kind of look at me like a guy who came back from the dead — like, where has this guy been? And that’s nice,” Long said Wednesday after the Bears’ practice at Halas Hall. “I’d like to do it for a long time and be able to help my team any way I can.”
It remains to be seen if Long, who turned 30 last December, can regain his Pro Bowl form — or if he just can get through a 16-game season without another mishap. Since playing 47 of his first 48 games in the NFL from 2013 to 2015 — and making the Pro Bowl each season — Long has missed 22 games the last three seasons and played only 21 from start to finish.
But after recovering from a Week 8 injury to his right foot in time to play in the wild-card game against the Eagles, Long celebrated a hospital-free, rehab-free offseason by going on vacation.
“I got to leave the Halas Hall training room,” Long said. “I was in Hawaii for about 10 days, and that was nice. Hawaii’s beautiful. They love Olin [Kreutz, the former Bears center from Honolulu]. Somebody finds out you’re on the Bears, all they want to talk about is Olin, which is beautiful.”
Now, Long has reached another milestone. He’s fully participating in practices without needing maintenance days.
“Feels good — lucky to be out here and with my team in the spring,” Long said. “And happy to do it.”
Even before he was injured last year, the Bears had to limit Long’s work in training camp and through the season because of wear-and-tear issues. At this point, they don’t have to do that.
“He’s developing a consistency in his training,” Bears offensive line coach Harry Hiestand said. “When you’re in and you’re out, it’s hard to build consistency — that’s what I see right now from him. Gradually you can see the improvement fundamentally from him because he can put back-to-back-to-back days together. He can make a mistake and correct it and get better.”
There still was a reality to deal with. The Bears and Long agreed to restructure Long’s four-year, $40 million contract, which included a pay cut in 2019.
“I knew my position and their position, and we knew mutually we had to get something done,” Long said. “It was in the best of both our interests to secure my future here and secure some finances for things [the Bears] needed to handle.”
The agreement was reached with no hard feelings.
“Anytime somebody’s ripping a check out of your book, it’s no fun,” Long said. “But at the same time, you see it. I see it every day with the guys we’re practicing against — the new guys we’ve signed. It’s a good feeling knowing I did the right thing, and they did the right thing by me. They handled it the right way, and I respect them for it.”
...
