Chicago Bears

Bears' Antrel Rolle: 'I'll come back and be a playmaker'

Published Jan. 13, 2016 11:23 a.m. ET

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Antrel Rolle's first season with the Chicago Bears did not go according to plan. Injuries limited the veteran safety to just seven games played in 2015, leading to a marginal impact and career-low statistics.

Rolle is confident that he'll return stronger next season.

Via Bears senior writer Larry Mayer:

When it's time for me to start training, I'll have the same approach, just probably go a little harder. I've had a lot of time to rest obviously. My body doesn't need the rest as it would normally after a season, so I'm going to push myself a little bit harder.

I have a lot to prove, a lot to prove to myself, a lot to prove to the players here, the guys here in the organization, and I take that with a badge of honor. I want to do everything I can to show them that there's nothing lost. If anything, there's going to be a gain and I'll come back and be a playmaker.

For the majority of Rolle's career, he has been a durable contributor. He missed only one game with the Arizona Cardinals and New York Giants from 2006-2014. That's why his injury-plagued 2015 season came as such a surprise.

Rolle tried to fight through an ankle sprain early in the season, but a knee injury ultimately landed him on injured reserve in mid-December. In seven appearances with the Bears, he recorded 35 tackles (30 solo) and just one defended pass. It was the first season of his 11-year career that he did not record a single interception.

At 33 years old, Rolle's time in the NFL is likely running out. Still, there should be a sliver of hope for his future with the Bears since he's a former top-ten draft pick, a three-time Pro Bowler and a Super Bowl champion.

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