Bear Digest

Darnell Wright injury means Bears have possible Maxx Crosby trouble

The starting Bears left tackle missed a second straight practice with an elbow injury and it's possible someone who hasn't started an NFL game will face Raiders' top defender.
Gene Chamberlain|
Darnell Wright at training camp. The Bears would love to see him at practices Friday after missing both Wednesday and Thursday.
Darnell Wright at training camp. The Bears would love to see him at practices Friday after missing both Wednesday and Thursday. | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

The Bears could have a problem and it's potentially really big one.

On Thursday, for the second straight day, starting Bears right tackle Darnell Wright sat out of practice with an elbow injury.

When any team loses their starting right tackle it's an issue but when you're going against Raiders edge rusher Maxx Crosby Sunday and he lines up over the right tackle, it is a disaster in the making if your talented young starter is out.

The Bears on Sunday threw undrafted Theo Benedet into the game to replace Wright for 12 plays and Wright returned to the game after the injury. Benedet has 27 plays of offense to his credit for his NFL career.

"Theo's done a really good job in practice," Bears offensive coordinator Declan Doyle said Thursday. "He obviously had to play this past week. He did a good job of going out there and handling it.

"It's the stuff that you (media and fans) don't necessarily see how he is in the building and things like that, that'll instill confidence in a player. At the same point in time, there's nothing like going out and doing it and so, that's the biggest thing is watching him in practice every day, it's been good."

There's also no replacing experience. Wright has actually faced Crosby in the past. The Raiders edge had one sack in that game at Soldier Field in 2023, a 30-12 Bears win.

They would be hoping for an awful lot from a player who a year ago was more known for stripping down to his underwear and singing in front of the team during rookie initiation more than for his play would be a huge ask.

The Bears do have another option, of course. They have rookie second-round pick Ozzy Trapilo and right tackle is his natural position.

Trapilo has been in only one game this season but not on offense and was left inactive last week while Benedet, who actually is the backup at left tackle, was the player they turned to in the game.

If Wright can't go and the Bears start Benedet, it's sure to spark plenty of questions again about the draft day decision by Ryan Poles when he selected a tackle who isn't playing as a rookie and the team needed both running back and edge rush help.

A week ago coach Ben Johnson talked about the tackle situation and Trapilo's status.

"With Ozzy–it's with all these rookies we're developing trust," Johnson said. "And so what do we do with Ozzy? We start him on the left side. We made the decision that that wasn't the best spot for him and so we moved him back over on the right side. He's getting better every day.

"Just made a comment to the O-line coaches this morning about how much improved he looks in individual and some of the run stuff that we're doing on Wednesdays with pads. He's really showing up, so he's coming along and there'll be a point this season where he's playing for us. Is that this week or is that a few weeks down the road? I don't know. I don't know, but he's preparing as if he's ready to go. We'll see there."

It's possible it could be this week, unless they deem the undrafted second-year player from Canada as better for what looks like an impossible task against Crosby.

In the end, they’ll just be thankful if anyone can block Crosby, whether it’s Wright, Benedet or Trapilo.

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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.