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The Chicago Bears offense has struggled with injuries and poor play all season, and the hits kept on coming Sunday.
The team announced that starting left tackle Braxton Jones will miss its contest against the Minnesota Vikings on “Monday Night Football” due to a head injury.
“Braxton Jones has been ruled out of #CHIvsMIN due to a concussion and is not traveling with the team to Minnesota,” the official Bears X account posted.
Jones’s situation is mildly unusual in that he self-reported possible concussion symptoms to the team, but didn’t do so until Sunday. The injury presumably occurred during Chicago’s most recent contest against the San Francisco 49ers on December 8, though it is also possible Jones could have sustained the concussion during a practice at some point during the week.
Bears Offensive Line Among Worst in NFL Through 14 Weeks
GettyChicago Bears left tackle Braxton Jones.
Jones isn’t an elite offensive lineman, but he is a crucial part of the Bears’ front.
Part of that is because he plays left tackle and is responsible for protecting the blindside of rookie quarterback Caleb Williams. He is also probably the best player on the unit outside of left guard Teven Jenkins.
Chicago’s O-line has suffered through multiple issues this season, including injuries to several starters and reserves. The Bears also parted was with former starting right guard Nate Davis in early November, who the team benched on multiple occasions due to poor performance and a lack of effort during practices.
The offensive line entered the Week 15 as the 25th-ranked unit in the league, according to Zóltan Buday of Pro Football Focus.
“Although the Bears’ offensive line let up just eight pressures on 33 pass plays against the [San Francisco] 49ers, five turned into sacks. As a result, Chicago ranked 22nd in Week 14 in PFF pass-blocking efficiency rating (80.3),” Buday wrote. “Center Coleman Shelton had a rough outing against San Francisco, allowing four pressures — including two sacks. Shelton gave up pressure on 12.1% of pass plays, the worst rate among centers in Week 14.”
Bears Must Make Tough Call on Who Will Replace Braxton Jones at Left Tackle
GettyOffensive lineman Kiran Amegadjie of the Chicago Bears.
The Bears must now make a decision between Larry Borom and rookie Kiran Amegadjie as Jones’s replacement against Minnesota.
Both men have overall player grades of 49.6, per PFF, though neither has seen enough snaps to qualify for an official ranking at the tackle position in 2024. If either had, he would be fairly low on the list.
By contrast, Jones is 21st out of 81 tackles who have qualified for rankings. However, he still has major flaws to his game.
Jones has committed 7 penalties and allowed 5 sacks this season, which rank 104th and 109th in the league, respectively. He’s allowed 26 total pressures and struggles against the run, with a run-blocking grade of just 69.1.
As a result of Jones’s flaws, and struggles blocking in the passing game across the unit, Chicago has allowed 56 sacks of Williams for a combined 377 yards of lost yardage through 13 games.
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Crucial Cog in Bears Offense Bows Out of Vikings Game With New Injury