Bears' Kyle Long Progressing In Rehab From Ankle Injury

By Chris Emma--

(CBS) As he recovers from a gruesome right ankle injury and November surgery, Kyle Long has spent much of his time resting and tweeting.

Tuesday brought news of the recovery from Long himself in a tweet.

Long and the Bears received good news when it was decided that his torn labrum would be best healing on its own. Initially, it was expected that surgery would be necessary for the shoulder too, which would've come three months after his ankle surgery.

Long suffered the injury to his right ankle in November when fullback Paul Lasike landed on it during a run play. His left shoulder injury occurred during training camp in August, with Long fighting through the pain during the season.

"He's working hard and there's daily progress on that," Bears general manager Ryan Pace said of Long's shoulder in early March. "It wasn't just one or two doctors; it was multiple opinions and doctors with a lot of conviction that (no surgery) was the right thing to do. He's strong. He's kind of a freak genetically. His shoulder's doing good. There's going to be maintenance as far as strength and everything, which he's doing. We don't have a lot of concerns with that right now.

"It's fluid. The shoulder is in pretty good shape. It's really him rehabbing the ankle and we'll see. One thing that I have learned in the last two years is to be careful to put timelines on these injuries, because it's so fluid."

Now that Long is jogging, it's safe to say his ankle has made steady progress from what it looked like back in November, when he showed us a glimpse of it the day before surgery.

Whether Long is able to be ready for workouts in April remains to be seen.

Chris Emma covers the Bears, Chicago's sports scene and more for CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @CEmma670 and like his Facebook page.