Whether it’s Caleb Williams playing at a limited capacity or backup Tyson Bagent filling in for him, the Bears’ quarterback will be playing behind an offensive line rocked by inconsistency.
The two most concerning spots on the line were problematic in their 9-3 loss to the Vikings on Sunday, starting at center with Garrett Bradbury. In the first half alone, he was flagged for two holding penalties and two false starts, though one of the holds was negated by an offsetting penalty.
And at left tackle, an ongoing frustration for coach Ben Johnson, Braxton Jones is now in a rotation with swing tackle Theo Benedet.
Bradbury was part of a brutal sequence for the Bears late in the second quarter as they squandered first-and-10 at the Vikings’ 30-yard line and ended up punting. Tight end Sam Roush committed an illegal shift on first down, Bradbury was penalized for holding and quarterback Caleb Williams drew a flag for intentional grounding to take the Bears back to second-and-35 at their own 45-yard line.
Then, while still trying to salvage a field goal on third-and-24, Bradbury was whistled again for a false start.
“You’ve just got to get in the film and figure out what you can do better,” he said. “The penalties are inexcusable. You shoot yourself in the foot. We’ll be better and I’ll be better.”
Johnson reluctantly named Jones his starting left tackle going into the season, just like he did a year earlier, and once again doesn’t feel great about it. He benched Jones for Benedet in the fourth game last season.
Jones committed a holding penalty in the first quarter that wiped out what would’ve been a first-down run by Kyle Monangai.
The Vikings finished with 10 quarterback hits, including four sacks, and held Bears running backs D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai to a combined 3.5 yards per carry.
At both offensive line spots, the Bears have been forced to pivot after former center Drew Dalman retired and left tackle Ozzy Trapilo suffered a major knee injury in the playoffs last season.
There’s promise for Trapilo given that he completed his first full practice Friday, but he was inactive Sunday. At center, Plan A is for Bradbury to be the starter all season as the team gives second-round pick Logan Jones essentially a red-shirt year to learn the offense.
Johnson said the left tackle rotation was planned and that Bradbury is “doing a great job.”