Even if it was just for a light practice, the Bears were thrilled to see Akiem Hicks back on the Halas Hall fields Thursday.
Exactly two weeks ago Thursday, Hicks won a competition at the end of practice by catching punts shot off by a pitching machine. He kicked the ball in celebration — and hadn’t practiced since. Nagy said last week the two events weren’t related.
“It was a very light practice [Thursday],” Nagy said. “Any time you see 96 out there, that’s a good thing. We like that. We know opposing offenses don’t. We want to make sure we have him out there. So it was good.”
The Bears’ season starts Sept. 13 in Detroit. Hicks’ presence looms large for both the opener and the rest of the year after he missed one game last season with a knee injury and another 10 with a dislocated elbow suffered in London against the Raiders.
