Chicago Bears: Is it Time to Start Worrying About Offensive Line Situation?

The Chicago Bears made a concerted effort to improve the offensive line. So far in camp, however, key linemen haven’t been able to practice. Is it time to worry?

For the Chicago Bears last season, it was a tale of two seasons. When the offensive line played well, the team went 8-2. When the unit didn’t, they were 0-6. It’s really simple, the Bears need the offensive line to move bodies for the running game and to keep pass rushers away from the quarterback.

Head coach Matt Nagy put it succinctly recently. Speaking on how the team turned things around after a six-game losing streak, he said it was easy to diagnose.

It was really simple for me. We got that offensive line in sync. Done. It was really that easy.

Because of that, general manager Ryan Pace made a big effort to improve the line. Late last season, the coaches found a good combination on the interior of the line. This season, guard James Daniels comes back, making that part of the line even stronger.

The Bears had to do something about the tackles. Pace didn’t play around and decided to part ways with both tackles. He cut bot left tackle Charles Leno Jr. and right tackle Bobby Massie. In their places, he had rookie second-round pick, Teven Jenkins, to play left tackle and Germain Ifedi play on the right side.

Injuries and COVID starting to hurt the line again?

One of the main problems the line had last season was injuries and COVID. The line was ravished by both. Some linemen played positions they never played before. The shuffling was how the coaches finally found an answer to the interior line.

Despite the moves made this offseason, the injury bug is rearing its ugly head again. Jenkins, who spent most of his college career on the right side, needed to hit the ground running so he could get accustomed to the left tackle spot quickly. However, he’s dealt with back problems and hasn’t had any work yet. While Nagy keeps insisting that Jenkins is getting better, he’s missed every practice and it is concerning.

As for Ifedi, he suffered a hip flexor injury during his conditioning test at the start of training camp. The Bears placed him on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list and hasn’t seen any action either. At least he has experience in his position so he doesn’t need much work to get ready.

A big reason the Bears signed Elijah Wilkinson was that he could play multiple positions. He could play guard or tackle on either side and he has a lot of starting experience. With Jenkins down, Wilkinson practiced with the starters at left tackle. However, he wasn’t there this past Tuesday. There was no explanation. Then the Bears announced that they placed Wilkinson on the Reserve/COVID-19 list.

The Bears had to use Larry Borom, their fifth-round draft pick, at left tackle with the starters. Lachavious Simmons, the second-year man who saw no action last season as a rookie, started taking reps at right tackle.

Is it time to worry?

Despite Nagy’s positive outlook on Jenkins and all the other linemen’s injury situation, do we need to worry? The Bears made the moves to improve the offensive line’s depth. This was something that hurt them last season. The team felt that now there were players who could move around and play different positions. That was a good thing, but they didn’t think they’d get tested on their moves so quickly.

Yes, it is still early. The problem is that by cutting Leno, the Bears left Jenkins out on the ledge without a safety net below him. As I mentioned before, he’s playing a position he hasn’t played much in college. He’s learning the most important position — the protector of the quarterback’s blindside and learning on the job. He needs as many reps as possible but he hasn’t had any yet and it’s been more than a week into practice.

Maybe it isn’t time to panic about what’s happening. We’ll get an idea right away if the moves made this offseason work or not. It is something to worry about, though. No matter how well we think Justin Fields could be, he won’t be successful if he’s on his back.