Thayer: Carimi 'No Good To Bears' If Not Healthy
(WSCR) It's not the way the Bears first-round draft selection wanted to spend his rookie season, but offensive tackle Gabe Carimi may be making a return to the Bears this week.
Sidelined since Week 2 by a knee injury, Carimi has missed five straight games. His status for Monday's matchup against the Eagles is still uncertain, but the Bears are hoepful he will return.
Bears radio analyst Tom Thayer joined The Mully and Hanley Show to discuss Carimi's return to the Bears.
"If Gabe can't push with power or keep himself in a bent-knee position during pass protection, he's no good to the Bears," Thayer said. "Eventually, he will be. Gabe is a very committed football player and wants to be the best that he can be. One thing from his injuries -- it's going to be from stance to explosion that is the key deciding factor of whether he is ready to go."
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Carimi has played only six quarters in his NFL career and when he returns, he will need to have confidence in his knee to be successful.
"I think the new brace that they built for Gabe Carimi can stabilize his knee cap and give him a little more confidence that the injury won't occur again," Thayer said. "I talked to him a bunch in London -- he's a guy that is very confident in himself. That's what I like to see. He's got a really strong desire to be back on the field as quickly as possible.
