Bear Digest

Darnell Wright and Grady Jarrett to miss Sunday against Raiders

Chicago Bears injury report: Darnell Wright will miss Sunday's game, and as a result Theo Benedet appears the likely starter.
Gene Chamberlain|
Darnell Wright is sitting this one out against the Raiders and Maxx Crosby due to an elbow injury.
Darnell Wright is sitting this one out against the Raiders and Maxx Crosby due to an elbow injury. | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

The Bears have invested a lot in the sudden rise of tackle Theo Benedet.

Now it's time to reap some dividends in the toughest of circumstances. Benedet appears the likely right tackle starter Sunday at Las Vegas and will face one of the game's best pass rushers, Maxx Crosby, because starter Darnell Wright was ruled out with an elbow injury.

He's not the only big loss for the Bears. Defensive tackle Grady Jarrett will be out with a knee injury that kept him out of practice all week. Linebacker T.J. Edwards is out with a hamstring injury but the Bears did a bit of a positive break as cornerback Kyler Gordon returned to practice on a limited basis and is questionable for the game.

Wright missed every practice this week and Benedet got first-team reps.

“We saw a continuation of training camp, which is a player that's going to battle his tail off," coach Ben Johnson said of Benedet. "He commits to the fundamentals, he plays with low pad level, he comes off the ball, he's willing to strike you.

"I think as a pass protector, he continues to get better every single day. We see that. (O-line) coach (Dan) Roushar and Assistant Offensive Line Coach) Kyle DeVan, they're on him. I think he's taken a step in the right direction. I have a lot of confidence in him. If he goes out there and is called upon he's going to go out there and battle it out.”

They also would have Ozzy Trapilo available and right tackle is his natural position.

Benedet played there last week 12 snaps after Wright's injury. Pro Football Focus gave him a 62.5 pass-blocking grade last week, fourth best among Bears linemen. He allowed no pressures by their statistics.

Whether it's Benedet or the other linemen, it's about both stopping Crosby but the entire Vegas defensive line. The offensive line is trying to continue its improvement as a group.

"I think that's the thing that gets overlooked a little bit," Johnson said. "(Crosby) is a phenomenal player and he can wreck a game. But, I didn't give enough of their other players credit (earlier his week) either because it's a stout group up front now. This is a good unit.

"We're going to have to play with low pad level. Their linebackers fly around, so we're going to have to be running up front to stay up with them. And then their DBs, they'll tackle, which is the first thing that jumps off at the tape. They get nosy in the run game and they're pretty sticky in coverage as well. So, the whole unit's really good. I think for us to stay away from the negative plays you always have to account for 98. Beyond that, we're going to have a number of one-on-ones elsewhere that we're counting on guys winning.”

Without Jarrett, the Bears will lean more on Shemar Turner and Chris Williams with Gervon Dexter and Andrew Billings.

Tight end Colston Loveland (hip) and running back D'Andre Swift are questionable as well. Both practiced on a limited basis Friday. For Loveland it was the first practice this week after suffering his injury Sunday. Swift has been in every practice all week, but on a limited basis. He did the same thing last week and was able to play.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.