Bears WR Allen Robinson takes biggest step yet in return from knee injury

Allen Robinson participated in some drills during the Bears’ organized team activity practice Wednesday, the latest milestone in his recovery from a torn left anterior cruciate ligament.

It marked the most the receiver has done since the Bears signed him to a three-year, $42 million deal in March, Matt Nagy said. Still, the coach doesn’t expect him to participate in team drills during next week’s three-day mandatory minicamp.

“We’re just not there yet,” Nagy said. “I said it last week — there’s no need to rush the kid. He’s really going in the right direction right now. No reason right now for us to do anything more than let him continue to be positive, go at his own pace when he feels good, and then when we get to training camp, be ready to go.”

Robinson’s teammates cheered his participation Wednesday.

“When he was running out there, everyone got hyped and everyone was high-five-ing him and stuff like that … ” backup quarterback Chase Daniel said. “It’s good to have him out there. He brings good energy.”

The Bears hope he’ll bring more than that. They signed the 24-year-old to be their lead receiver, confident he’d recover from the injury suffered in Week 1 with the Jaguars last year. Nagy envisions a receiver that can beat press coverage and give quarterback Mitch Trubisky a reliable end-zone target.

“He’s well-rounded in the fact that he’s a big receiver that can run every route that’s out there, and especially in this offense he can do that,” Nagy said. “Then you get him in the red zone, he’s a guy that can go up and win 50/50 balls.”

The team hasn’t allowed the receiver to speak to the media, citing a policy that states he must practice in full first. He’s yet to do so.

Nagy said it probably felt “a little bit different” for Robinson to catch passes from Trubisky while running routes against air Wednesday.

“That’s one step in the right direction,” he said.

Outside linebacker Leonard Floyd, who participated in parts of practice while recovering from his own knee injury, is a bit farther along than Robinson, Nagy said.

The Bears believe both will be ready by the first training camp practice on July 20.

“(Floyd is) happy with his progress, we’re happy with his progress,” Nagy said. “And again, those are two important roles on this team where we feel really good, that by training camp, we’ll be rocking and rolling.”