Chicago Bears left tackle Braxton Jones has been balling out through three games, allowing one of the lowest pressure rates (2.4%) in the NFL.
However, Jones suffered a knee injury during the win against the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday, and at first it appeared he would only miss this week’s matchup against the New York Jets and possibly next week against the Green Bay Packers.
However, the Bears have decided to place Jones on injured reserve, knocking him out for the next four games of the season.
Theo Benedet will take Jones’ place for the time being, and Chicago is still hopeful that Ozzy Trapilo will be able to come back soon.
“We’re still working out Ozzy just to make sure that the confidence is back,” head coach Ben Johnson said. “He’s looking better each and every week. He was one of those guys in Wednesday night’s practice in pads. He stood out in a good way.”
Bears Place Left Tackle Braxton Jones on IR, Elevated Two Players
In a corresponding move, the Bears have elevated two players — defensive lineman Marcus Davenport and defensive back Nick McCloud from the practice squad for the game against the Jets.
Here’s some more info on both Davenport and McCloud via the Bears website:
Davenport — “Davenport joined the Bears as a practice squad signing prior to the start of the regular season. An eight-year NFL veteran, Davenport has appeared in 77 career regular-season games (44 starts), amassing 25.0 sacks, 71 quarterback hits and seven forced fumbles over his career.”
McCloud — “McCloud returned to Chicago in 2026, signing to the club’s practice squad prior to Week 3. McCloud has appeared in 62 career regular-season games (20 starts), including 15 appearances (four starts) last season for Chicago. ”
Unfortunately, Jones will miss the next month, especially since he wasn’t causing any problems for the Bears offense. However, at least the Bears have Benedet to man down the left tackle spot, and hopefully Ozzy Trapilo soon.
Bears Expected to Start Tyson Bagent Against Jets
As for who will start on Sunday, Johnson hasn’t been clear throughout the week on the starter.
However, the Bears are expected to start Tyson Bagent at quarterback, which could be controversial should he not have a good performance, especially after Case Keenum played a great game against the Eagles on Monday.
“There is such a thing as playing the hot hand,” Johnson said Friday. “That is real. We’re certainly taking that into consideration. And yet, there’s a body of work that goes into it as well. There’s a lot of factors at play, and we certainly have talked about it as a coaching staff.”
Let’s see whether the Bears are making the right decision by choosing to throw in Bagent as the starter over Keenum.
Bears Announce Unfortunate Injury News Regarding Offensive Starter