Darnell Wright, Braxton Jones out against Patriots: What to expect from the Bears' offensive line

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The Chicago Bears will be without Braxton Jones and Darnell Wright on Sunday against the New England Patriots, both sidelined with knee injuries for this Week 9 matchup at Soldier Field.

Injuries were bound to happen at some point throughout the season, but to have both starting tackles and backup Kiran Amegadjie out only complicates how this Bears offense will attempt to establish consistency and rhythm. This will be Jones’ second consecutive game missed and Wright’s first.

“It doesn’t happen very often, that’s for sure,” Bears coach Matt Eberflus said. “But again, you’ve gotta adjust. You’ve got to adapt. You’ve got to overcome those adversities and the only way you do that is the people in the building. You just rally around each other. I know the next man up saying, but it’s really about helping everybody around you. And we have to do that, going forward.”

Eberflus mentioned next man up, and that is where things get interesting. It would make sense for the left side of the offensive line to remain intact as it did last week. Larry Borom filled in for Jones at left tackle, Teven Jenkins at left guard and Coleman Shelton at center.

Ryan Bates was just activated off IR with the shoulder injury that left him off the football field since the Week 1 victory against the Titans. The veteran offensive lineman played 38 snaps at right guard in that game. Bates is currently listed as questionable despite being a full participant this week in practice. If Bates plays against the Patriots, that creates some scenarios for the Bears to consider.

The Bears have to decide what combination of linemen gives the offense the best starting five this week. That could mean inserting Bates back at right guard. Bates spoke to the media on Friday and was asked if he would be conditioned to play every snap, and the veteran lineman said, “I wouldn’t be playing if I wasn’t.”

Matt Pryor has played 373 snaps at right guard this season and took over for Nate Davis in Week 5 against the Panthers. Pryor has given up four sacks and has been penalized four times.

One possibility is Bates will start and rotate with Nate Davis or vice versa. It’s at least a possibility. If that occurs, Pryor is a candidate to move to right tackle. In Pryor’s six years in the NFL, he has played 659 regular season snaps at right tackle. While with the 49ers in 2023, he played only 26 snaps at the position. He did have eight snaps at right tackle with the Bears this preseason.

Wright played his last snap against the Cardinals with 12:40 left in the fourth quarter. Jake Curhan finished the game and played 17 total snaps.

“We had different combinations during the course of the week,” Eberflus said. “We worked on those. I’m not gonna say who’s gonna line up where and all those things, but we had a couple good combinations there and guys that worked well in there with the reps they had. It’s been good. Shane (Waldron) and C-Mo (Chris Morgona) have done a really good job of cross-training those guys, as I’ve said in the past. I think they did a good job this week of getting those guys ready to go.”

Curhan has 650 regular season snaps at right tackle through his four years in the NFL. During the 2024 preseason with the Bears, the veteran offensive lineman played 156 snaps at the position.

Whatever configuration the Bears come up with for Sunday, that unit has to do a better job keeping Caleb Williams upright. The rookie quarterback was sacked six times against the Cardinals. The makeshift offensive line must also do a better job creating lanes in the run game. Chicago ended with 69 rushing yards in the 29-9 loss to Arizona.

If there was any week to have a beat-up offensive line, it would be this week against the Patriots. According to NFLPro, the Patriots have generated the sixth-lowest pressure rate (29.7%), and New England has given up 1,232 rushing yards (seventh-most).

“We got a good group of O-linemen where we’re comfortable with each other,” Bates said. “We got good chemistry going, and obviously it changes when you change the starting five, you know, not every week, but when you have to when you get injuries. There is going to be injuries throughout the season. The continuity with the starting five is very important to be on the same page, to get the chemistry going.”