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Offensive Line Experiments Will Continue

Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy made it clear there is nothing etched in stone about the offensive line at this point as Riley Reiff and Braxton Jones have worked at the tackle positions, and even suggested Teven Jenkins will get back into the battle when he returns to health.

All of the speculation about whether the Bears are close to making Braxton Jones their starting left tackle can be forgotten for now.

Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy made it clear the team will continue looking at different combinations on the offensive line and hasn't arrived at any conclusion other than there will be more hard work ahead—like they had at Friday's practice. In fact, they're still installing some of the offense.

"I think we're still a ways away for a lot of positions to be honest with you, and that's one of them," Getsy said. "We've flipped guys from right to left up front and we're trying to see whatever combination makes the most sense and which guys are the most flexible for us. So we've got a lot of information still to find out.

"This has been a really good week for us though. You talk about some guys that have stepped up and, you know, how are they going to react when there are pads in the run game? That's the biggest part. I think they've done a lot of really good things so this was a great practice for us too because this was the first time we challenged them like conditioning-wise. We really went at it today and I thought that was a really good thing."

Darnell Mooney and Cole Kmet were exhausted afterward when they talked to media. It wasn't a padded practice, just shells, but the Bears logged the miles in their "track shoes," as coach Matt Eberflus likes to say.

Getsy does feel like the understanding about their offense is improving.

"I feel pretty good where we're at right now," Getsy said. "We're still in the middle of the installation phase. We're almost to the end of it so I feel pretty good about where we're at. These last few practices have been awesome because we've done a lot more not scripted practices so Flus has done a great job of throwing different situations at the guys and us substituting on the sidelines and the crowd noise with the music and everything, all of that stuff.

"With a young team, we can't do that stuff enough. All of operational stuff has got to improve but I feel pretty good about where we're at right now."

That includes Justin Fields. The Bears have been emphasizing situations in practice up until Friday and Getsy says it's benefiting Fields.

"You're talking about what makes the great quarterbacks great?" Getsy said "It's just that experience in dealing with all the different situations and understanding them and also you know part of that growth, you take walk-throughs that we have at night and just go through situations and stuff and you can see them showing up when we get out there on the field in practice."

Practice Highlights

Lining Up: An offensive line with Riley Reiff at right tackle, Braxton Jones at left tackle, Sam Mustipher at center, Michael Schofield at right guard and Cody Whitehair at left guard paved the way for the offense in a so-so day. Several players were in the stationary cycle group in the weight room instead of on the practice field, including tight end James O'Shaughnessy, cornerback Kyler Gordon, defensive lineman Khyiris Tonga and cornerback Duke Shelley. Cornerback Kindle Vildor was also on the sideline. Wide receiver Tajae Sharpe worked in with the first team a bit during full-squad scrimmage at the slot. ... Safety Dane Cruikshank worked in with the heavy package at the goal line on defense.

Teven Jenkins continues to miss practices but Getsy insisted there are plans to bring him back into the tackle competition as soon as he has healed from whatever injury he has. The Bears won't reveal what it is, but the comment by Getsy seems to run contrary to reports they have been contacted about trading him and have had talks with some teams.

"Yeah, he's going to get thrown right into the mix of this competition at the tackles, too," Getsy said. "I mean, that's … this is an open (battle)—right, left, whatever. We're trying to find the best five, so when he gets back he's someone who's super-talented, that should jump in there and hopefully he takes advantage of the opportunities he's going to get."

Heating Up: The first-team offense struggled again in the red zone, even at running the ball after they had some success doing this in practices last week. 

Running back David Montgomery and safety Eddie Jackson were chest to chest as tempers overheated after Montgomery was stopped aggressively inside the 10-yard line. Mustipher played peacemaker and broke it up.

The excessive heat and all the running had players at the point of exhaustion.

"These type of practices, today's, you can do two things: You can either tap out or stop and cry and complain or you can just step up. And when you get through stuff like that, that shows what good teams are made of," Jackson said.

Did anyone tap out?

"Nah," Jackson said. "Everybody stood their ground."

Playmaking: Wide receiver David Moore enjoyed one of his more impactful practices. He beat former Seattle teammate Jayson Stanley deep for one of two nice receptions he made. ... Kmet caught a slant and Mooney an out ball as Fields went to his two favorite targets during a two-minute drill. But a holding penalty flagged by NFL refs in attendance killed the first-team drive. They also were flagged once in the practice for delay of game. ... Defensive end Dominique Robinson came up with a fumble recovery during goal line work. ... Defensive back A.J. Thomas made an interception while the first team offense ran plays against a backup defense donning red vests with jersey numbers, presumably for the 49ers in the opener although it could have been Kansas City for the preseason opener.

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