Left tackle has been an ongoing stress for the Bears, and coach Ben Johnson made it clear throughout the four-way competition that whoever won the job for Week 1 wasn’t assured of keeping it.
His choice was veteran Braxton Jones for the opener Monday against the Vikings after he beat out Theo Benedet, Kiran Amegadjie and rookie Ozzy Trapilo. It’ll be an audition, however, with Johnson constantly evaluating and hinting that the bye in Week 5 is time for a thorough reassessment.
“That’s fair for them to say and evaluate it that way,” Jones told the Sun-Times. “It’s my job to go in there regardless of what they’re saying and perform.
“I am here for the team and here to win, so I’m keeping my eyes on the most important thing… Regardless of what’s being said, I’m going to take the same approach.”
Jones, going into the fourth and final season of his rookie contract, has started 40 games since the Bears drafted him in the fifth round out of Southern Utah in 2022. While he is a developmental success story, the team has constantly searched for upgrades during his tenure.
The latest shot at finding someone better was drafting Trapilo out of Boston College in the second round at No. 56 overall. He has a long way to go, though, and will begin the season as a backup.
Jones has played well at times in his three seasons with the Bears. He struggled early last season before making some progress — only to have it dashed by a broken ankle. That was a major hindrance to his offseason training, but he overcame it largely because of his experience compared to Benedet, Amegadjie and Trapilo, who have a combined one NFL start.
“He knows what he’s doing,” Johnson said of Jones. “Is it perfect every play? No, it’s not, but we did see the execution go up over the course of the last few weeks, so there is a trust level in him knowing what to do.”
The Bears overhauled their offensive line after quarterback Caleb Williams took a league-high 68 sacks last season. Jones and right tackle Darnell Wright are the only returning starters.
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