After a tumultuous week with two altercations which resulted in a brief suspension, it appears the Bears and G Kyle Long are ready to move forward as coach Matt Nagy confirmed the former pro-bowl lineman will return to practice this week.

Long was briefly suspended after he had a physical altercation with DE Jalen Dalton in a practice earlier this week, which saw Long grab Dalton’s helmet and hit him repeatedly with it before being ejected from the field. As punishment, Long was left off the team’s charter to New York for their preseason matchup against the Giants. Long also had a verbal spat with DE Akiem Hicks a few days prior to the altercation with Dalton.

Nagy, speaking with reporters on Sunday, talked about Long’s actions and the fallout from them. “I know Kyle is extremely remorseful,” he said. “And now he has got to prove it.”

Throughout the offseason, Long was praised for his practices during minicamp and organized team activities, saying he’s as healthy as he’s been in years, which made the blow-up that much more unfortunate.

“Big picture-wise, Kyle has done such a great job really since last year when we got here but in particular this past year this OTAs and training camp, man he’s been awesome,” Nagy said. “And so you hate to see one day ruin all that.”

According to Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times, Nagy kept the punishment in house and consulted with general manager Ryan Pace before making the suspension official. This is the first time a player has been suspended under Nagy.

Long had a sincere apology for the team following the incident and Nagy feels good about resolving the situation.

“In the end, I think that dealing with the person specifically like I did and like we did is how you do it,” he said. “You explain going forward the process. It’s not going to happen again, but how we do things. I think all of them are a little bit different. You can’t treat everyone the same, every incident the same. It’s kind of a feeling.”

After signing a four-year extension worth up to $40 million in 2016, Long re-worked his contract this offseason and is now signed through the 2019 season, with a team option for 2020 worth over $8 million. Drafted in the first round in the 2013 NFL Draft, he is the second-longest tenured player on the team, behind DB Sherrick McManis.

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