☕️ S&C Daily — Three Muscles, Not One

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Some offensive linemen never fully recover from patellar tendon surgery because of their size. After left tackle Ozzy Trapilo had his in January, the Bears expected him to miss much of 2026. Head athletic trainer Andre Tucker built the rehab plan. Then the strength staff noticed his leg was improving faster than expected, so they tested it. “OK, if you’re a little bit ahead, we don’t have to hold you back,” Trapilo said, describing their approach. He came off the PUP list in mid-August.

The markers since have been physical: getting his pads down, bending his knee and straining with his lower body in the run game, and bracing and loading from it in pass protection. Practices put him against speed-to-power rushes and bull rushes to rebuild trust in the leg. “And then you feel one, and you’re like, ‘All right, I’m good,’” Trapilo said.

Coach Ben Johnson said Trapilo is still gaining confidence putting all his weight into it, but is “a little bit more flexible and fluid than he was before.” His next chance to play is Sunday against the Jets.

Mike Trout played 142 games for the Angels this season, his most since 2016, including 109 in center field. He credited the training staff, the strength staff and his personal physical therapist, and said the key was “coming up with a plan and sticking to it.” His only injury was a right hamstring strain in mid-June that cost him 17 games.

In a new article, Colin Griffin makes the case for testing the medial gastrocnemius, lateral gastrocnemius and soleus separately with surface EMG, because different calf and Achilles injuries leave different recruitment patterns. In one case, an athlete back from a calf strain matched or beat the uninjured side on jump height, isokinetic torque and isometric force. Only the EMG and ultrasound showed the injured calf leaning on the soleus, with the medial gastrocnemius 19.8% thinner.

His go-to for isolating the soleus is what he calls a “soleus wall-sit”: plantarflexion with an isometric knee extension held at the same time, which the research he cites shows lowers gastrocnemius activity while raising soleus activity. For the lateral gastrocnemius, he uses calf raises with the foot internally rotated, pushing through the outside of the foot. He says the response varies by athlete, so he tests each variation rather than assuming. “Aggregate force or torque data will not show you this,” Griffin writes.

In a new Athletic story, Bruins center Fraser Minten walked through an offseason spent on power and technique. Top speed wasn’t the issue: he hit 22.71 mph last season, fifth-fastest on the team. His challenge is acceleration. “Skating is probably a big deficiency of mine growing up,” Minten said.

It followed a 98-game season: all 82 regular season games, six in the playoffs and 10 for Canada at the World Championship. Minten took one week off the ice afterward. With trainer Ryan Kerr, he moved through a foundation block, then strength, then speed and explosive work. He also hired physiotherapist Ryan Murray to work on proper movement, and reported to camp at 207 pounds, up from 204.

“Hockey’s an imperfect sport. You’re doing everything one-sided. So it’s kind of resetting,” Minten said.

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