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LAKE FOREST – Matt Eberflus’ Wednesday morning press conference didn’t just provide clarity on Justin Fields but also on Lucas Patrick.
It seemingly came out of left field, but Eberflus announced Patrick’s 2022 season is officially over.
“I didn’t announce this before because he was still on IR (but) he actually had surgery a couple weeks ago and he will not be back with us this year,” Eberflus said. “You guys know he had the toe injury and we ended up surgically repairing that.”
The Bears signed Patrick to a two-year, $8 million contract this past offseason to play center, but a right hand injury in July prohibited him from playing the position to begin the season. Instead, Patrick played at right guard through the first three weeks and then moved to left guard from Weeks 4-6 after Cody Whitehair went on IR.
He finally took snaps at center in the Bears’ 33-14 victory over the New England Patriots in late October. However, Patrick only played 10 offensive snaps in that game before going down with the toe injury.
Regardless of where Patrick lined up on the offensive line this year, his play was inconsistent. In 269 snaps played, Patrick allowed 16 total pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. He did
Patrick was brought in by general manager Ryan Poles to provide stability at the center position, but he has failed to provide that for the Bears organization.