LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Chicago Bears linebacker Danny Trevathan knocked off nine months of rust with one hit last week against Atlanta.

Trevathan got his much-needed "welcome back to the NFL" moment midway through the first quarter when he collided in the hole with Falcons rusher Devonta Freeman, whom he drove backward after initial contact.

For Trevathan, who was medically cleared for Week 1 following a nine-month recovery from a torn patellar tendon, the hit on Freeman was almost too good to be true.

“That’s what you live for as a linebacker,” Trevathan said on Thursday. “To meet a guy face-to-face in the hole, because they’re always running sideways or trying to run away from you, but to finally get that opportunity to strike like a cobra, you got to take it. It felt good. I’m looking forward to having more like that. I’m playing lights-out with this defense.”

Trevathan played 42 of 59 defensive snaps in the opener.

“Hopefully Danny Trevathan gets better and better each week as he gets back to playing football,” Bears coach John Fox said.

However, Chicago was dealt a blow when inside linebacker Jerrell Freeman went on injured reserve with a torn pectoral muscle. Until Trevathan is back to 100 percent, the Bears have to count on second-year linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski -- Freeman’s backup -- to pick up the slack.

The positive spin is that Kwiatkoski started seven games last year as a rookie.

“He'll play a big role, and I have all the confidence that he'll do fine,” Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said. “He came along last year as he played more and more. He's had a good camp for us this year, and I have confidence in him to go in there and do a good job and nothing will change.”

That’s the hope, of course. Freeman led the team in tackles in 2016 and was credited with a team-high 10 stops against Atlanta -- despite having a concussion and torn pectoral muscle.

“Thankfully we're a deep defense,” Bears outside linebacker Sam Acho said. “We're deep especially at inside linebacker. So it hurts a lot losing Free because of the type of player he is, the type of leader he is, the type of person he is. But we got a lot of guys -- Christian Jones, Nick Kwiatkoski, Danny Trevathan, even Jon Anderson, guys on our practice squad, John Timu, guys who've proven themselves, guys who can play -- so we're beyond confident that we'll be able to fill in for that role.”