The Chicago Bears have lost starting left tackle Braxton Jones to a season-ending ankle injury in their 34-17 home loss to the Detroit Lions, but they also seem to have received some good news about his long-term status in the aftermath.
The Bears carted Jones off the field with a gruesome lower left leg injury in the second quarter of Sunday’s loss after center Coleman Shelton unintentionally blocked Lions defensive tackle Levi Onwuzurike into the back of his legs, collapsing Jones awkwardly.
Jones gave the home crowd a thumbs-up as the cart took him off into the locker room with an air cast around his left leg, but the team quickly ruled him out for the game.
The following day, Bears interim head coach Thomas Brown confirmed Jones would require surgery and would miss the final two games of the 2024 regular season. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport added optimism to the situation, though, writing on X that Jones seems to have avoided the worst and should return “long before training camp.”
“#Bears OT Braxton Jones, who was carted off yesterday, is believed to have suffered a fractured ankle, source says,” Rapoport wrote on X. “He’s still undergoing tests, but as of now, it’s just the fibula, not the tibia, as well. Jones faces a four-month recovery, back long before training camp.”
Braxton Jones ‘Not Out of the Woods Yet’ With Injury
While Jones is still undergoing tests that could reveal more significant damage to his ankle and lengthen his recovery time, Rapoport’s report about his initial tests is more encouraging than what social media “experts” speculated had happened to Jones.
Dr. David Chao — a former head team physician for the Los Angeles Chargers known on X as Pro Football Doc — posted a clip of Jones’ injury-resulting play and speculated that he had ruptured his left patella tendon, writing that the speculated injury would require “surgery” and make it “tough to be ready for [the] start [of the] 2025 season.”
Of course, Chao backtracked once Rapoport reported what initial testing on Jones’ leg found. Chao then reposted Rapoport’s report and wrote: “Looking back at more video, fibula fracture and associated ligament damage.” A classic, cover-your-bases move.
Jones, however, is “not out of the woods yet” — as The Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs put it in his December 23 column detailing his “10 thoughts” on the Bears’ loss to the Lions.
“I’m told the fibula is fractured and Jones is scheduled to meet with a specialist Monday, with surgery likely to be performed this week,” Biggs wrote on Monday. “A source said the belief is Jones avoided potentially serious ligament damage or multiple fractures. Jones has a long road to recovery ahead. It could be a four- or five-month process to return to the field after surgery, but it could have been significantly worse.”
“He’s not out of the woods yet. They’ll need to see what doctors say, but the hope is it’s a simple fracture that needs to be stabilized with surgery.”
Will Bears Consider Replacing Braxton Jones in 2025?
With Jones now facing an offseason of recovery, the Bears must consider how they want to proceed at the left tackle position following a season filled with offensive line issues.
The Bears hold the No. 9 overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft with two games left to play in the regular season and cannot fall outside of the top 10 in the first round regardless of how the remainder of the season unfolds. With that in mind, the Bears should find themselves in a good position to consider drafting a new left tackle — likely either LSU’s Will Campbell or Texas’ Kelvin Banks Jr., the two top tackle prospects in the class.
The Bears would have likely considered drafting a left tackle even before Jones’ injury given their expressed desire to build around quarterback Caleb Williams, but his long recovery and uncertain future only add incentive for them to explore other options. They must also consider that Jones will enter the final year of his rookie contract in 2025, putting them roughly 15 months away from a potential extension decision.
Now, in fairness to Jones, he has not been the biggest problem on the Bears’ offensive line in 2024. According to Pro Football Focus, he allowed five sacks and 26 pressures on 471 pass-blocking snaps but received a strong 80.2 grade as a pass-blocker and a good 70.2 as a run-blocker.
Injuries are not a new problem for Jones, though. A hamstring injury sidelined him for six games during the 2023 season. He also missed three games earlier in 2024, sitting out two games midseason with a knee injury and missing Week 15 with a concussion.
Even if the Bears still have faith in Jones, his injury gives them much to consider.
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