The Bears drafted Caleb Williams with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 draft and upgraded weapons for their incoming rookie quarterback last offseason. But offensive-line continuity — an underappreciated piece of the Bears’ offensive puzzle — is a problem the Bears just can’t seem to solve.
The ever-revolving door will continue this week, with left tackle Braxton Jones out for the season and slated for surgery after breaking his ankle in a 34-17 loss to the Lions on Sunday.
It’s Jones’ third significant injury this season. He suffered a knee injury against the Commanders and missed the following two games against the Cardinals and Patriots. He missed the Vikings game on Dec. 16 with a concussion.
Jones suffered the ankle injury when his left leg bent awkwardly underneath him as Lions defensive tackle Levi Onwuzurike fell on him on Williams’ 13-yard completion to Rome Odunze to convert a fourth-and-three situation. His leg was put in an air cast and he was taken off the field on a cart, giving fans a thumbs-up as he left the field. Veteran Larry Borom replaced him.
Jones, a fifth-round draft pick by general manager Ryan Poles in 2022, started at left tackle in Week 1 of his rookie season and played all 1,074 offensive snaps. But he missed six games last season with a neck injury and will miss five this season.
Jones’ injury occurred just nine plays after left guard Teven Jenkins left the Lions game with an aggravation of the calf injury that made him questionable to start. Jake Curhan replaced Jenkins against the Lions, but interim head coach Thomas Brown held out hope that Jenkins could play against the Seahawks.
Either Borom or rookie Kiran Amegadjie will start for Jones against the Seahawks. Jenkins is officially day-to-day, according to Brown, but with the Bears playing the Seahawks on Thursday night, time already is running short.
The injuries typified the Bears’ offensive line continuity issue that has marked general manager Ryan Poles’ three-year tenure. The Bears already have used six different starting offensive line combinations in 15 games this season (it will be seven if Curhan starts for Jenkins against the Seahawks) and 21 different combinations overall.
(In 2022, the Bears had nine different starting lineups and used 21 different combinations overall; In 2023, they had nine different starting lineups and used 16 different combinations overall.)
The Bears’ starting offensive line, in fact, has played the entire game just five times this season (not including late-game changes in blowouts). The Bears have used four players at left tackle, five at left guard, two at center, three at right guard and four at right tackle this season.
Offensive line continuity — and performance — figure to be an issue that Poles will be fixated on in the offseason, if he returns in 2025. The Bears have more than a continuity issue. Only Wright — the 10th pick of the 2023 draft — is a sure-fire keeper for 2025.
“I think health is a big part of it,” Brown said when asked about the offensive line’s struggles this season. “When you have different moving pieces — guys playing multiple different spots, left side, right side, starting, backing up … that makes it difficult.”
But Brown added that the Bears’ habit of falling behind — including 20-0, 13-0, 24-0 and 16-0 in their last four games — has added to the offensive line problem.
“I don’t care who you’re playing with o-line-wise,” Brown said, “it’s hard to always protect guys when you know it’s a known passing scemarios and you’re down multiple scores. That also puts those guys at more exposure.”
NOTE: Running back Travis Homer, who was inactive for the Lions game after injuring his hamstring in practice Friday, is day-to-day, Brown said.