The same old Akiem Hicks returned to practice this week — engaging, gregarious, candid, excited, and with a newly discovered perspective after going through an arduous rehabilitation from a dislocated elbow he suffered against the Raiders on Oct. 6 in London that put him on injured reserve.
“Miserable. Miserable,” the 6-5, 332-pound Hicks said of the rehab process. “I’m not gonna brag on myself, but I’m a guy that I’ll grab whatever dumbbells [are] in the weight room. To go into treatment and not be able to lift more than … four, five pounds after getting back from London, it was a different feeling.
“It’s very humbling. It makes you think [about] what people go through that don’t have an arm or are missing something. It puts things in perspective. Yes, it’s good to be here now.”
Hicks participated in practice for the second consecutive day after missing the previous eight weeks with the elbow injury. “Not a whole lot of contact,” he said of the practice regimen. “Just working bags and being able to demonstrate some of the movements that I would use in a game. There’s nothing like live-action, though.”
Still, at his current pace of recovery and conditioning, Hicks doesn’t see anything preventing him from playing against the Packers on Dec. 15 at Lambeau Field.
“Not according to me,” he said. “If I can get my body to a place where I feel like I can compete at a high level, there’s nothing that would stop me from being on the field with my boys.”
Bears defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano is focused on the Cowboys game Thursday at Soldier Field, but still has an eye on Hicks’ impending return against the Packers.
“We all know what a game-wrecker he is when he’s in there. He changes things. He changes the game,” Pagano said of Hicks. “The other guys have done a great job and they’ve gotten better in his absence. But he commands double-teams. He can whip one block … two blocks. He can get push in the pass game. So it’ll be good to get him back.”
Hicks made a point to publicly thank Bears physical therapist Tristen Asken, “the person that got me to the point I’m at.” Hicks clearly is grateful to be back after his first significant injury in eight NFL seasons. He had played in 118-of-121 games before the elbow injury.
“I won’t lie — it was super tough,” Hicks said. “You play this sport and you know it’s violent and they say there’s a 100 percent injury rate — I always felt I was above that. I never really had to experience some of the things that teammates or opponents have experienced.
“It was hard on me. But everything that has a beginning has an end, right? Being here in this place right now and being able to practice with my teammates — there’s nothing better.”
Hicks is often philosophical, but after seeing the game from a different perspective for eight weeks, he has an even greater appreciation for the game and the team he loves.
“I’ve got to tell you — I went out early and I watched people file into the stands,” Hicks said. “I watched the kids getting excited for the game. And even though nobody’s on the field yet, I got to listen to all the songs that were played in the stadium.
“It was a different feeling to sit back and not really be able to affect the game. You have a different process. Even your Saturday night before the game — you’re sitting there and everybody’s getting amped up and prepared to play this big game, and you’re kind of waiting on your time. It’ll come, on the 15th, right?”
