The Chicago Bears have officially announced a change to their starting lineup for Monday Night Football against the Washington Commanders in Week 6.
Bears head coach Ben Johnson announced Saturday that the team will bench veteran Braxton Jones and start Theo Benedet — a former undrafted rookie — in his place at left tackle protecting quarterback Caleb Williams’ blindside against the Commanders.
“Yeah, it’ll be Theo,” Johnson said Saturday when asked who would start at left tackle.
Benedet made his first career NFL start before the bye week, taking over at right tackle for the injured Darnell Wright against the Las Vegas Raiders. He spent the majority of the game at left tackle, though, after the Bears benched Jones and slid him over to take his place early in the second quarter, bringing in Ozzy Trapilo to cover the right side.
Johnson’s announcement came with some anticipation. The Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs had reported during the bye week that Benedet would “likely” replace Jones in the starting lineup against the Commanders, but Johnson had said that it was “too early” for him to say with certainty whether they would make a change at the left tackle spot.
Now, though, Benedet is locked into making his second career NFL start — and first at left tackle — against the Commanders on Monday night in the prime-time window.
Theo Benedet Delivered Mixed Results Against Raiders
Benedet will now take over as the Bears’ starting left tackle for at least one game, but he will need a good performance against the Commanders to ensure he keeps his new role.
Benedet delivered mixed results in his first start against the Raiders. While he drew an unflattering — and team-low — overall offensive grade (38.7) from Pro Football Focus for his performance, the tale of the tape showed far more bright spots in his game.
During his early snaps on the right side, Benedet struggled to hold in check All-Pro pass rusher Maxx Crosby — as one does — and yielded two pressures and two quarterback hurries. Once the Bears moved him over to the left side to take over for Jones, though, he did not allow a single pressure on Williams from his side for the rest of the game.
While encouraging, though, Benedet has still only played 95 career offensive snaps as an NFL offensive tackle, 68 of which he played against the Raiders. The Bears clearly seem to believe Benedet can give them an edge over Jones, but that does not mean that Benedet cannot forfeit the role back to him if he struggles against the Commanders.
Will Ozzy Trapilo See Playing Time vs. Commanders?
The Bears are giving the nod to Benedet over Jones against the Commanders, but it is unclear whether Trapilo — a second-round rookie — might also play a role in the game.
For starters, Wright is still nursing the elbow injury that held him out of Week 4’s game against the Raiders. While the Bears cleared him without an injury designation on their final injury report for the matchup, they might plan to rotate in Trapilo for a few snaps at a time to ensure they keep their primary right tackle fresh throughout the game.
Even if Wright plays every snap, the Bears might work a rotation on the left side of their line with Benedet. After all, the Bears have cross-trained Trapilo at both tackle spots.
The Bears (2-2) will kick off against the Commanders (3-2) at 8:15 p.m. ET on Monday.
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