Bushrod’s return would be a boost
With Dolphins’ Wake, Vernon on tap, Bears need their best guys
The Bears’ five starters on the offensive line haven’t lined up together since the second quarter of the first game. That held true again Wednesday, even as left tackle Jermon Bushrod returned to limited practice after injuring his right knee and ankle.
Right tackle Jordan Mills, who struggled mightily in the Bears’ victory in Atlanta, sat out practice while the team monitors his left foot, which he had surgery on in the offseason.
The Bears didn’t seem too concerned about Mills—“We gave him some time off,” coach Marc Trestman said — and were increasingly optimistic about Bushrod, whose right leg was rolled on in practice exactly two weeks earlier.
“It’d be great to have him back,” Trestman said. “We’ll see where it goes. He’s a valuable guy on our team. We’ve seen that we can go the distance — and we’ve gotten other guys work and moved people around to do that— but we want everybody to get well. And we certainly want ‘ Bush’ to be back, as well.”
Bushrod was encouraged by the practice results.
“It felt how I thought it would,” Bushrod said at Halas Hall. “It felt good enough to go out there, and I practiced about half the time. We’re going to do a little bit more [ Thursday], making sure that it’s feeling good in the morning.”
His return would come at the perfect time. Of the 13 players who have knocked down quarterbacks 10 or more times, two play for the Dolphins, the Bears’ opponent Sunday. Defensive ends Olivier Vernon and Cameron Wake have 10 apiece, according to STATS, Inc.
Bushrod said their skills consist of strength, leverage and hands.
“Individually, those guys get after it,” Bushrod said. “It’s going to be a tough test for us up front.”
One made simpler if all five starters are back.
Last season, the Bears started the same five players in all 16 games. But after not playing with their starting offensive line in any preseason game, the Bears lost center Roberto Garza and left guard Matt Slauson to high ankle sprains in Week 1. By the time they returned, Bushrod was injured, replaced by Michael Ola.
“When I’min there with Bushrod and Garza, very little has to be said,” said Slauson, who called the Dolphins’ defensive linemen studs from his Jets days, “because we all know.”
Bushrod said it would be good for his state of mind— and the team— if he were to return Sunday.
“I just miss being out there,” he said. “The guys, we all love being together out there. If someone else has to step up and play, you have to step up and play. I want to get back out there as soon as I can, but I don’t want to have any setbacks.”
Mills — who was whistled for two false starts and an illegal formation against the Falcons — has to prepare for Wake, who has 3 ½ sacks and two forced fumbles.
Trestman said Mills is a confident player who doesn’t need to be built back up emotionally — he simply had a bad game.
“He’s had a very, very good 18 months for us, and it wasn’t one of his best games,” Trestman said. “But I don’t think it’s a matter of him not wanting to get back out there and play.”
Bushrod wants back in, too, to get the band back together.
“I’m encouraged right now,” Bushrod said, “but we have to take this thing one day at a time.”