Patience is a virtue. Especially if you're rehabbing a surgically repaired foot like the Green Bay Packers' rookie outside linebacker Vince Biegel.

In the rearview mirror as his days of donning crimson red for the Wisconsin Badgers during his five-year collegiate career at the school. 

An illustrious career in which he recorded 11 sacks over his last two seasons (23 games) as well as 97 tackles in that same span. He showed enough promise on the opposite edge of fellow Wisconsin native T.J. Watt, who was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in April.

Rightfully so, Watt stole the show. As J.J. Watt's younger brother, expectations loomed large for the sibling of the four-time First-Team All-Pro defensive end. But while Watt was making noise en route to a monster junior season as a Badger, Biegel was in the process of ascending his own draft stock. 

It led to the Packers taking Biegel in the same draft as Watt, just three rounds and 78 picks later. Much to the affection of the hometown crowd, Biegel was staying in his home state.

While the story seemed to have a warm-hearted beginning, Biegel's professional career is off to somewhat of a tumultuous start.

Biegel suffered a foot fracture back in May which required surgery and ultimately led him to begin the team's training camp regiment on the PUP (physically unable to perform) list. The positive outlook to this is that if Biegel had practiced already and then was subsequently placed on the PUP list, he wouldn't be able to be activated during camp.

It's a situation that the Packers' third-round draft pick Montravius Adams is going through. While he's getting around Lambeau Field on a scooter while keeping his left foot in a cast, he's likely not going to be ready to be cleared by the time the Packers open up their regular season against the Seahawks on Sept. 10th.

Biegel, however, is in much lighter spirits.

"All of the signs have been very, very good," Biegel said after Monday's practice, in which the Packers had begun preparing for their preseason opener against the Eagles Thursday night. "On-the-field wise, the foot's been feeling great. We've continued to progress every single week.

"For me, it's doing my job, being able to be patient, being able to listen to the trainers, the coaches, and the medical staff and doing what they're telling me to do. Being able to be patient and listen to those guys and take it week-to-week, day-to-day."

The plan for Biegel is an unclear, yet, decisive—amongst the coaches at least—one that proves as the best course of action for Biegel. Being thrown into the fire that is full-speed, competitive NFL action likely won't bode well for a foot that underwent surgery just three months ago.

Keeping Biegel in the mix of the Packers' edge rushers would prove useful, albeit the difficult process Biegel must endure in order to see that concept come to fruition may take time. While Jayrone Elliott and Kyler Fackrell are expected to take a modest jump in 2017, that's all but wishful thinking.

Fackrell has made plays in camp, but he's also had plays made on him. Elliott, on the other hand, has impressed mightily and even earned praise from his coaches. The duo remains as the Packers' sub-package behind the combo of Clay Matthews and Nick Perry, but Biegel would have snaps with his name on them as well.

"I know you guys like to put a date on things, but for me, it's the foot," Biegel said. "Whenever the foot feels healthy, whenever the trainers tell me I can progress, that's where we'll be. "We're staying the course of action, there's no need to adjust the course or push it forward or push it back. Every single day with the treatment and the rehab, the foot has continued to get stronger and it'll continue to get better."

At least for Biegel, his time off means he can not only focus on rehabbing his foot, but also learn from the two veteran linebackers that help anchor the Packers' front seven.

"This process has taught me a lot, not just on the football field but in my personal life; I've grown a lot from this experience. I've been able to attack other things in my game.

"I've been able to learn from guys like Clay [Matthews], I've been able to keep my nose in the playbook, watch a lot of film, so when I step on the field there's no hiccups. I can understand my responsibility and just go fly around out there."