LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Not that anyone is counting. But the Bears have 27 days to figure out who their starting left tackle is for their season opener against the Carolina Panthers, if you count Tuesday’s practice at Halas Hall.
“As far as I’m concerned, the competition remains wide open and we’ll continue to play that one out,” coach Ben Johnson said beforehand.
Here’s how the competition played out on Tuesday:
- Braxton Jones started with the first team, which Johnson said would happen.
- Jedrick Wills Jr. still played with the 2s.
- But the newest wrinkle came during the final period. As teased by Johnson, Theo Benedet replaced Jones with the starters during a 20-minute team period that closed practice.
- Kiran Amegadjie left practice with head trainer Andre Tucker.
- Before practice, Johnson also said that Wills and Amegadjie would start to work at right tackle. “Give them a chance,” he said. But that didn’t happen on Tuesday.
The Bears could gain some clarity on the competition this week and next with joint practices and preseason games against the Cincinnati Bengals and Tennessee Titans.
What is very clear, though, is that no one has seized the job despite playing next to All-Pro guard Joe Thuney.
“I think Joe would like some clarity on who he can build a rapport with,” Johnson said. “It’s been a little bit of a revolving door. He’s a pro’s pro and he’s willing to do everything, but you want five guys playing as one. So we’ll go as long as we need to figure out who those five are, but at the same time, the sooner we can make that decision the sooner they can gel as a unit as well.
“You saw it last year. It took us through the bye week before we really started clicking a little bit as an offensive line and the run game coming alive the way we wanted it to. I think (Thuney’s) doing a great job right now. The communication’s a huge piece of it. With Garrett (Bradbury) at center, I don’t have a whole lot of concern from the communication piece and yet the sooner we can be on the same page without even saying anything the better off we’re going to be.”
Ozzy Trapilo is not part of the competition quite yet. Trapilo (knee surgery in January) was activated from the PUP list on Sunday.
“He’s got his own timeline right now,” Johnson said.
Trapilo was in full pads but didn’t participate in any team periods on Tuesday.
“Obviously, physically we feel really good about where he’s at or else we wouldn’t have brought him off PUP,” Johnson said. “Now, it’s a race to see how quickly we can rebuild the confidence. So, it’s going to look different for him than it is anybody else just in terms of how we continue to integrate him into drills, team drills, things like that. But we felt like this was a good opportunity for the next course of training camp for the padded practices that we’re going to have that gives him a chance to start building that confidence back up again.”
What’s up with Spider-Man?
After the Bears’ preseason win against the Cleveland Browns on Saturday, Johnson was asked whether nickel back Kyler Gordon had a timeline for his return from a calf injury. “Unknown,” he replied.
Two days later, nothing changed.
“There’s nothing to add right now,” Johnson said.
Has he had any interaction with him?
“Yeah, I see him in the building,” Johnson said.
Is Gordon progressing with his injury?
“Yup,” Johnson said. “There’s a plan and he’s working toward the plan.”
What is Gordon doing right now?
“He’s rehabbing,” Johnson said.
This, that and some more
- Receiver Luther Burden III remained sidelined by his groin injury. He went through a light routine with trainers before the Browns game on Saturday but his energy is missed in camp at Halas Hall.
“The excitement that (Burden) brings to the game,” receiver Rome Odunze said Tuesday, “trying to choke people out, all that. We definitely miss Lu out there. I know his recovery is going well so excited to get him back out there.” - Running back Kyle Monangai is considered week-to-week with his knee injury, according to Johnson.
- Backup quarterback Tyson Bagent didn’t practice. He suffered a hamstring injury against the Browns. His status for the Bears’ second preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals is in doubt.
- New defensive end Marcus Davenport, signed on Monday, didn’t practice. He was assigned No. 52.
- Cornerback Tyrique Stevenson and nickel back/special-teamer Jaylon Jones didn’t practice with their undisclosed injuries.
- Safety Xavier Woods (groin) returned to practice and played the final team period with the starting defense.