The Chicago Bears got some encouraging news with the return of cornerback Kyler Gordon, who practiced for the first time on Wednesday since before training camp.
There's been a lot of frustration with Gordon, who's been dealing with a calf injury since the offseason program. He's been injury prone his entire five-year NFL career and has yet to play a full season in the NFL. Overall, his absence has hurt the defense, especially in Dennis Allen's first two seasons as defensive coordinator.
Allen said he was made aware last week that Gordon would be back in the building and ready to start practicing this week. But, after missing the entirety of training camp and preseason, it's about Gordon getting into football shape to the point where he can play
in a game.
“I think where we’re at right now, he’s got to ramp up and get himself into football shape," Allen said. "We did a little extra work with him yesterday. I thought he looked good. … He moved around really well."
When healthy, Gordon is one of the NFL's best nickel cornerbacks, and he's brought a physicality and toughness to the defense. When Allen was first hired as defensive coordinator, the one player he specifically mentioned was Gordon, and he's yet to have him at his full disposal.
"I've got extreme confidence in what he can do when he's out there on the field," Allen said. "And so that's never wavered. I think as we all know, the biggest thing for Kyler is for him to be healthy and be able to stay healthy. And so that's kind of where the focus is."
The earliest Gordon can return is Week 5 against the Green Bay Packers, which would be perfect for a key NFC North showdown with division seeding at stake.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Dennis Allen sounds off on return of Bears CB Kyler Gordon
