Bears rookie cracks first-team OL at final OTA originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
The biggest competitions for the Bears this summer will probably all take place on the offensive line. We’ve already seen Sam Mustipher and Dakota Dozier switch off taking first-team reps at right guard many times throughout OTAs. Ryan Poles also selected four offensive linemen in his first draft, adding a bunch of rookies to the mix. On Wednesday, the media saw one of those rookies getting a chance with the first-team for the first time: Braxton Jones at left tackle.
That change caused a bit of a domino effect along the line. Most notably, Larry Borom moved to right tackle, while Teven Jenkins was relegated to taking second-team reps on the right side. But before too much could be made of the moves, Matt Eberflus was quick to point out that the changes were simply coaches doing their due diligence by trying players in new positions at this point in the summer program.
“We're just trying to find the best combinations of people, especially when you're looking at the offensive line,” Eberflus said. “Who's the best five guys out there so we can succeed and it creates competition when you do that, you know when you're moving guys around. Who can function at different spots and who can really execute?
“We might like the other combination. We might like this combination. We might not like either one of them. Now let’s go to the one here in training camp. So we’ll figure out what the best thing is and that’s really just more information for the coaches to find out what’s best for the Bears.”
While it’s possible Jones has had good days with the 1s when the media weren’t present, on Wednesday it was a bit of a struggle. He was beat on several reps by fellow rookie Dominique Robinson, and committed one false start in 11-on-11 drills. Despite the miscues, Cody Whitehair, who played next to Jones at left guard, was quick to praise the rookie.
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“Braxton is a tough kid, very athletic,” Whitehair said. “He's got really long arms, as well. He's learning. You know, as hard as that is to be thrown in the fire like that, I feel like he has responded well, and excited to see what he can bring.”
With changes extending through OTAs, and possibly more on the horizon, it begs the question of when the Bears need to find a lineup they like and stick with it. But when posed with that question, Whitehair didn’t see a problem with mixing things up throughout the summer.
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“As we all know the offensive line forever changes,” Whitehair said. “You know, there's injuries, there's all sorts of things, but the one thing they have been apparent with us is they're going to play the best five, and you know that's what we want. We want that competition. We want to bring out the best in every player. So you know, that's all you can ask for and the guys have responded really well.”
Eberflus also cautioned against putting too much stock in how players look at this point in the year. Guys are still wearing shorts and not hitting anyone. It can make it hard to evaluate anyone, but it’s especially difficult in the trenches.
“I've been in this a long time and I've seen guys, man they look great all the way through this part of the year,” Eberflus said. “Then the pads come on, and they stay on, and it's like pad (practice) No. 4 or 5 in training camp, and then all of the sudden you see a guy slide. It's just because of the physicality of the game. You know some guys are really suited to that, and those are the guys that succeed in the NFL. The guys that are not suited to that, they have a harder time of having that long success.”
The Bears won’t have to wait too much longer until the pads do come on. There’s still the non-padded work of mandatory minicamp, but after that comes training camp. That’s where the real fun begins for the offensive line, and where we may start getting more concrete answers about where everyone will line up when Week 1 finally rolls around.
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