Bears scrambling after only 9 practices
Search for left tackle is on as preseason opener quickly draws near
On the same day Jimbo Covert, one of the best left tackles in franchise history, was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Bears were cycling through options at the position at warp speed with the first preseason game a week away.
Attrition has become the story of training camp, which is jarring from the standpoint that Saturday morning was only the third practice in full pads.
The Bears have lined up four players — Elijah Wilkinson, Larry Borom, Alex Bars and Arlington Hambright — at left tackle with the first team since camp opened July 28. Second-round draft pick Teven Jenkins, who was designed
to win the competition for the position, has yet to take the field. Jenkins has missed all nine practices with a back injury that is more concerning by the day.
The team practiced Saturday with only nine of the 15 offensive linemen on the roster as Lachavious Simmons, who was the first-team right tackle last week, suffered a concussion Friday and is out. A day earlier, offensive line coach Juan Castillo declared rookie fifth-round pick Larry Borom was in a “dogfight” to win the starting left tackle job — only to lose him to a concussion.
Wilkinson remains sidelined on the reserve/COVID-19 list, although he could return to practice Sunday. Right guard James Daniels (quad) is out, and right tackle Germain Ifedi (hip flexor) remains on the physically unable to perform list.
Basically, whatever could go wrong has, and general manager Ryan Pace might have to make a roster move or multiple additions with the Miami Dolphins arriving this week for joint practices ahead of the teams’ preseason opener Saturday at Soldier Field. As calmly as Matt Nagy discusses the situation, this is a nightmare scenario for a coach who points to the improvement of the line late last season for the offense’s uptick in the final six games.
The team brought in former Clemson lineman Gage Cervenka for a visit last week, and he could be signed to a contract. He was with the team briefly in May and could be a camp body. At this point, the Bears might require multiple camp bodies unless some players return soon.
The coincidence that on Covert’s big weekend in Canton, Ohio, the Bears are sorting through many options at left tackle — none with a start at the NFL level — shouldn’t be lost on longtime observers. The Bears have struggled to find consistent high-level play at the position since a back injury prematurely ended Covert’s career, forcing him to retire in 1990.
The team’s most consistent player at the position was Charles Leno, and he was released shortly after the Bears selected Jenkins. Leno not only started 93 consecutive regular-season games, he didn’t miss as many practices in that six-season span as Jenkins has to open camp.
The roster construction was a calculated gamble, and the only good thing is that Pace, Nagy and Castillo have time and the upcoming preseason schedule to sort through in-house options or consider finding help elsewhere. Who will be available in the coming weeks remains unknown. Daniels’ injury isn’t considered serious, and Nagy doesn’t seem overly concerned about Ifedi’s status, but the Bears were down three projected starters on the line for practice and they’ve yet to reach the grind of August.
The line was so thin that 30 minutes before practice Friday morning, Nagy couldn’t say who was going to line up with the starters at left tackle.
“I don’t know,” he said. “We’ll see when we get out there where we’re at with Juan. Could be a couple different guys. It could be Alex Bars. It could be Arlington Hambright. Here’s again, what we’ve been talking about: It’s an opportunity. I know that’s not what everybody wants to hear, but what is real is that’s that, and that’s where we’re at today. Whoever’s opportunity it is today, we’re going to get a shot to see them.”
Nagy talked up Borom on Thursday, saying the Bears had second- and thirdround grades on the former Missouri Tiger, who was bumped up for Tuesday’s practice at Soldier Field for the first practice in full pads. The Bears need to find a positive way to spin things with Jenkins, the player they traded up to get in Round 2, out.
Jenkins played far more right tackle than left at Oklahoma State, and Borom had little college experience at left tackle, meaning both need all the reps they can get. Wilkinson was primarily a right tackle when he played for the Denver Broncos. Who will be available this week as the preseason opener approaches is anybody’s guess.
The situation has reached the point of wondering whether Nagy will be able to run his offense the way he wants in the preseason opener.
“I would say we probably have to see as this goes here in the next, what — seven to 10 days — before we get to the point of that game,” Nagy said Friday. “And then if we feel like we need to, we can. And that’s just whatever we need to do there at that position. I feel more than fine that we’ll be OK. If we need to protect somebody, we will.”
Of the top 13 players in sacks last season, 11 are on the Bears’ regular-season schedule, and that doesn’t include Nick Bosa of the San Francisco 49ers. The Bears are going to have to be very good at offensive tackle.
They always can play some tape of Covert over the weekend. Few in league history have done it better. In the 30 years since he retired, the left tackle situation rarely has been this confusing for the Bears.