ALLEN PARK — Who is more impatient? Lions fans to see their first-round pick Nick Fairley take the field, or Fairley himself.

He has not heard from the coaches and trainers whether he will play on Monday night against the Chicago Bears.

The rookie defensive tackle broke his foot early in training camp. He practiced on Friday for the third straight day and just the fourth time since the injury.

“I’ve been getting better each and every day. Basically every day I’ve been taking a step forward. Everything’s been going good, they’ve been tremendous through the whole process of getting me back to where I need to be,’’ Fairley said.

ESPN has reported that he will play, but coach Jim Schwartz will not confirm or deny the report.

Fairley said we’ll know when he get the OK, because he’ll be all smiles.

“Whatever coach Schwartz and the trainers come up with I have to go with. It’s not up to me, whenever they give me the green light I’ll be ready to go full-steam ahead,’’ Fairley said.

He'll have to work his way up the depth chart. Ndamukong Suh and Corey Williams start at defensive tackle while Sammie Hill and Andre Fluellen rotate in and out.

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