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Chicago Bears prepping for major change in starting lineup during bye week

The Chicago Bears' offense could look a lot different after the team's Week 5 bye.
Bryan Perez|
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Big changes are coming to the Chicago Bears' offense when they return from their Week 5 bye.


At least, that's what longtime team insider Brad Biggs is reporting.


According to one of Biggs' sources, the Bears are preparing to bench left tackle Braxton Jones for Theo Benedet in Week 6's game against the Washington Commanders.


Right tackle Darnell Wright should be back from injury by then. If not, rookie Ozzy Trapilo will get the not on the right side.


"A source said Jones is not expected to start Oct. 13 at Washington," Biggs wrote. "The situation remains fluid, and Benedet is the likely replacement."


Jones' return from a serious ankle injury suffered last December hasn't gone well, and with the Bears' running game struggling to get going, a change up front was expected.


Jones has the second-lowest Pro Football Focus grade of all the Bears' primary starters. His 55.0 score is by far the lowest of his career, and his 47.2 run-blocking grade is more than 20 points lower than his previous career-worst season.


That 47.2 run-blocking grade is the worst among Chicago's linemen, and you can bet the Bears and coach Ben Johnson will be focusing on improving the ground attack during their week off.


“I don’t think our running struggles were a reflection of D’Andre,” Ben Johnson said Monday. “He’s a guy that continues to run the ball very hard, even though the yards per carry aren’t where any of us wanted to be right now. He’s as frustrated as anybody. He’s very prideful in what he can do and what he brings to the table.


“I don’t feel like everybody on offense yet is pulling their weight, and that’s myself included. There’s a number of things from (Sunday’s) game I have to do a better job of. There were a couple calls I was getting in late. There were a couple things that the coaching staff, myself, we could have coached up better to give us a better chance."


Perhaps Jones will be only the first of several changes to the Chicago Bears' offense this week. I'd expect more reps in the rushing game to go to Kyle Monangai in Week 6.


Indeed, Johnson did his part to be politically correct and not blame Swift for the running game's struggles, but the sixth-year back has been more of the same from his underwhelming 2024 season.


Through four games, Swift is averaging just 3.3 yards per carry, a career low. While Monangai hasn't been much better (3.6 yards per carry), he's run with more pop and burst on inside rushing plays.

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Bryan Perez
BRYAN PEREZ

Bryan Perez founded and operated Bears Talk, a Chicago sports blog. Prior to that, he covered the Bears for USA Today’s Bears Wire and NBC Sports Chicago. In addition to his Chicago Bears coverage, Perez is a respected member of NFL Draft media and was a past winner of The Huddle's Mock Draft competition. Bryan's past life includes time as a Northeast scout for the CFL's Ottawa Redblacks.

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