When training camp began last month, everybody knew the Chicago Bears left tackle job was wide open for the taking. With Ozzy Trapilo out for the foreseeable future with a knee injury, no fewer than four players were in line to compete for the spot. There was incumbent Braxton Jones, the most experienced of the four who’d started last season before being benched and ultimately landing on IR. Theo Benedet, who’d replaced him for a time last season, was also getting a second chance. Former 3rd round pick Kiran Amegadjie had another shot after injuries ruined his opportunity a year ago. Last but not least, there was free agent addition Jedrick Wills, a former top 10 pick from Cleveland.
Head coach Ben Johnson and offensive line coach Dan Roushar would not play favorites. The job would go to the player who was the most consistent. For a time, it looked like Jones was the early favorite, with Wills and Amegadjie close behind. Then Jones suffered a leg injury during a practice last week. This meant he’d miss at least a few days recovering. It gave Wills and Amegadjie a golden opportunity to gain some ground, with maybe the most important practice of camp at hand on August 11th. Based on what Adam Jahns of CHGO reported, it sounds like one of them took advantage.
The Chicago Bears now have a two-man battle to decide.
Penalties were called on both players: Wills (false start) and Amegadjie (holding on defensive end Jamree Kromah).
The competition feels far from over. Braxton Jones is expected to return soon, while Poles said on the Hoge & Jahns podcast that Ozzy Trapilo is ahead of schedule and could potentially return to action at some point in camp or in September.
But on Tuesday, the team got plenty of film of Wills and Amegadjie to evaluate. Wills has definitely shown improvement, while Amegadjie continues to struggle against defensive end Austin Booker.
Wills bought himself more time to overtake Jones.
That is pretty much what the outcome of that practice means. It wasn’t perfect. He had some mistakes, as Jahns noted, but he also had some strong moments, particularly in the run game. Head coach Ben Johnson has indicated more than once how much he loves Wills’ combo of size, power, and length. The trick was getting his confidence back up after spending almost two years recovering from a knee injury. That has been happening, particularly in the past week.
The other part was a lack of experience in the offense. This was the biggest advantage Jones holds over Wills. He played in Johnson’s system last year. He knows what is required of the left tackle on every play. It takes time to learn, which means Wills had to work doubly hard to catch up. It looked like Jones was using that advantage to the utmost. Then he got hurt. This has been the story of his career thus far. He plays some truly good football and then gets injured. Johnson has little patience for players with repeated injury issues, which probably didn’t help his case in this battle.
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The next few days could prove decisive.
The Chicago Bears play their first preseason game on Saturday against the Cleveland Browns. It feels like this competition will continue at least through then. Jones still hasn’t returned to practice, which means Wills is likely to start. If so, he can deliver the decisive blow with a strong performance. The starting offense should at least get one offensive series. Wills might get more than that just to get a fair evaluation of him in game-like conditions. Jones better hope he can return in time to defend his spot.
Right now, it still feels like Jones is the slight favorite if only because he is the most reliable. However, Wills has closed the gap more than anybody else. His confidence is growing, and he is definitely the more talented of the two. Are the Bears willing to gamble on his upside, believing he’ll catch up on the scheme eventually? Or will they prefer to risk Jones’ persistent health concerns? A decision should be know by the start of next week.
