The Chicago Bears’ plan at left tackle, at least for the moment, appears clear. They liked what they saw from Ozzy Trapilo last season. Unfortunately, that knee injury suffered in the playoffs has stunted his progress. He likely won’t return until late next season at the earliest. This meant Bears general manager Ryan Poles and head coach Ben Johnson had to find alternatives they could live with until that time comes. Their solution was re-signing veteran Braxton Jones, the team’s starter from 2022 through 2024. Then, in a somewhat surprising move, they added former 1st round pick Jedrick Wills.
This was an interesting move. The former 10th overall pick of the Cleveland Browns arrived from mighty Alabama in 2020. His career seemed to start off well those first two seasons, but injuries began to hit, and his play took a nosedive. Eventually, he chose to step away from football, undergoing extensive surgery to have his lower body structure realigned. This cost him the entire 2025 season. Some wonder what player the Bears are getting at this point. Zack Pearson of Bear Report spoke with Jake Burns of Browns Film Breakdown about what happened.
The comments weren’t exactly encouraging.
“And then something happened. Like he…the belief I think as time wore on is that he stopped loving the game. There was an element of, like, he doesn’t work hard. The thing that drove me the most crazy is this guy was clearly very talented, but he never finished plays. He was a big-time turns-and-look guy (who) didn’t finish plays…
…It felt like, if I put a perfect bow on the Jed Wills experience, it felt like, over time, he just stopped caring about getting better. And when he stopped caring about getting better, it led to more injuries, which I think were a direct result of training prep. I don’t think he was doing enough to get ready. And then I ultimately think it made him a worse player. He started to lose confidence.”
Jedrick Wills’ problem was never ability.
Like many Alabama tackles in the past, he has loads of talent. Nick Saban had a terrific eye for the position. The problem is, he also didn’t seem to identify guys who had the mental toughness to handle the NFL. Five of the past seven tackles taken in the 1st round out of Alabama have been flops. That includes Wills. The overarching issue for many of them is an inability to handle the speed and complexity of the pro level. That seems crazy to think, given the level of coaching they received in college, not to mention the competition they faced.
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Getting a player to care about football is almost impossible. That is one of those things you’re sort of born with. If it’s evident they’ve lost their confidence and don’t love the game anymore, there is no getting back. It doesn’t matter how good the head coach is. Jimmy Johnson didn’t even bother. He simply cut guys if he got that sense from them. The Bears seem willing to see if passion was really the issue for Jedrick Wills or if the health problems were the root cause.
This revelation changes things.
It suggests the Bears might not be as serious about Wills as an option for starting at left tackle. They will certainly allow him to compete. However, these stories, along with the contract they gave him, suggest they see him more as a camp body who could serve as a swing tackle. Don’t forget, Wills made his name in college as a right tackle. It was his natural position before Cleveland shifted him to the left side. That might be his most optimistic outcome, and it explains why the Bears are paying close attention to left tackle options in the draft.
They’ve already been spotted looking into Kadyn Proctor of Alabama and Max Iheanachor of Arizona State. It’s a safe bet they’re looking at others as well. This signals their confidence in Wills and Jones isn’t nearly as high as one might think. In all fairness, it shouldn’t be. Neither player has done enough over the past two years to justify confidence that they can hold down the fort. Maybe they change that in training camp, but this isn’t a regime that likes relying on hope to get them through.
