Left spackle: Elijah may have to fill in
The Bears’ left-tackle quagmire has no easy solution, but it appears the hope is Jason Peters recovers enough from the quadriceps injury that took him out of the Rams game to start against the Bengals on Sunday.
Peters was fully dressed for practice and stretched with the team during the portion open to the media, but the Bears listed him as a partial participant on the injury report Wednesday. Rookie Larry Borom, next in line on the depth chart, did not practice because of an ankle injury.
If neither is available against Cincinnati, the team would likely turn to Elijah Wilkinson, who practiced in full. Wilkinson would normally be the backup right tackle.
Peters, 39, lasted 32 plays before the injury forced him out shortly before halftime. Borom got hurt after only 15 plays, and Wilkinson took the last 22.
“Elijah did an excellent job,” offensive coordinator Bill Lazor said. “As you know, I was not calling the plays, but . . . Elijah being in the game had zero effect [on] what we did. We have great confidence in Elijah.”
With second-round pick Teven Jenkins and Borom out during training camp, Wilkinson had an underwhelming stint at left tackle. That’s when the team called Peters, who took over as the starter almost immediately.
Ogletree’s regret
It was far from the biggest mistake of the night, but inside linebacker Alec Ogletree’s taunting penalty in the fourth quarter helped the Rams bury the Bears.
Rams running back Darrell Henderson picked up nine yards on a run with his team up 27-14 and 8:37 left, and Ogletree tangled with right guard Austin Corbett at the end of the play. While Corbett was on his back, Ogletree stood over him and kept talking, which earned him the flag.
“That was stupid of me,” he said.
“I let my emotions get the best of me in that situation.”
The penalty gave the Rams a first down at the Bears’ 33-yard line, and they ran another five minutes off the clock before scoring their last touchdown.
Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson and safety Eddie Jackson tried to prevent Ogletree from continuing with Corbett, and Jackson got in Ogletree’s face after the penalty.
“I was wrong, so I don’t have a problem with that,” Ogletree said. “We all have to hold each other accountable, and you appreciate that.
“We don’t need to do that. That’s not who we are; that’s not what we’re about and all that stuff. So, like I said, I was wrong in that situation, and we just moved on.”
Other injury updates
Aside from their issues at left tackle, the Bears began the practice week in relatively good shape.
Nose tackle Eddie Goldman, who missed the opener, was a partial participant after missing every practice last week.
The only other concern was outside linebacker Robert Quinn’s ongoing back problem, but he has been practicing and playing through it since training camp.
Wide receiver Darnell Mooney is dealing with the same back injury that limited him last week, but he was full-go for practice.