Twenty-seven days. That’s all the time left until the Bears kick off their season opener against the Carolina Panthers, and what’s wild is their starting left tackle spot is still a wide-open question mark. Head coach Ben Johnson is playing it cool, saying the competition “remains wide open and we’ll continue to play that one out,” but come on, the clock is ticking, and this O-line needs to gel!
Revolving Door at Left Tackle Has Everyone Grinding Their Teeth
This isn’t just some camp battle, folks, this is a full-blown crisis for the offensive line. On Tuesday, Braxton Jones got the first-team reps, just like Johnson said he would. Jedrick Wills Jr. was still running with the second unit. But then, the real drama dropped in the final period: Theo Benedet, the new wrinkle, actually replaced Jones with the starters for a solid 20-minute team session that closed out practice! And if that wasn’t enough, Kiran Amegadjie had to leave practice early with head trainer Andre Tucker. Remember when Johnson said Wills and Amegadjie would start working at right tackle? Yeah, that never even happened on Tuesday. The big issue here is crystal clear: absolutely no one has stepped up and seized this left tackle job, even while lining up next to an All-Pro like Joe Thuney. You can practically hear Thuney’s frustration. He wants some clarity, wants to build a rapport. Johnson gets it, admitting, “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.” The coach pointed to last year’s O-line, which took until the bye week to really click. We can’t afford that again! While communication with center Garrett Bradbury isn’t a concern, Johnson knows the sooner they find that fifth guy, the better off the unit will be. Oh, and Ozzy Trapilo, who had knee surgery back in January, just got activated from the PUP list on Sunday. He was in full pads, but no team periods for him yet. He’s got his own timeline, rebuilding confidence, which is understandable, but another body in the mix doesn’t exactly clarify things for the opener.
Kyler Gordon’s Calf Injury: The Mystery Continues
As if the O-line isn’t enough to worry about, the Kyler Gordon situation is just as frustrating. The nickel back is still nursing that calf injury, and after the preseason win against the Browns, Coach Johnson’s update on a timeline for his return was a blunt “Unknown.” Two days later? Still nothing. “There’s nothing to add right now,” Johnson said. He sees Gordon “in the building,” but that doesn’t tell us squat about when he’ll actually be back on the field making plays. This team needs its key defenders healthy, especially with the season opener just around the corner.
The Bears have joint practices and preseason games against the Cincinnati Bengals and Tennessee Titans coming up this week and next. This is crunch time for the coaching staff to figure out who’s protecting the quarterback’s blind side and get Gordon back on the field. The season starts in 27 days; it’s time to find some answers!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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