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Bears make massive change on offense for Week 6 vs. Commanders

The Chicago Bears made a massive change to their starting lineup for Week 6's game against the Washington Commanders.
Bryan Perez|
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The Chicago Bears' offense will look very different in Week 6's Monday night matchup against the Washington Commanders.

Coach Ben Johnson made it official on Saturday, naming Theo Benedet the team's starting left tackle. Veteran Braxton Jones is headed to the bench.

Benedet started Week 4's game against the Las Vegas Raiders but was swapped to the left side for the second half after Jones' struggles.

Benedet originally joined the Bears in 2024 as an undrafted free agent and rose to local fame during last year's Hard Knocks.

He quickly earned the respect of Johnson and the new coaching staff after showing consistent development throughout the offseason program and training camp.

"You’ve just kind of seen him grow," Bears offensive coordinator Declan Doyle said on Friday. "I think Kyle (DeVan) and Dan (Roushar) have done a great job of training our guys, cross-training him, putting him in different positions – not only tackle guard and really the versatility there I really like about him. And the way he’s able to move, he’s a player that’s ascending and will continue to grow."

Left tackle has been an issue the Bears have dealt with for quite some time, despite Johnson maintaining confidence in the cluster of options he has in-house.

"I think we're going to have a starter Week 1, and we'll go from there.," Johnson said in August. "I said it a few weeks ago - we feel good about the guys we have in that room. Someone's gonna take the bull by the horns and is going to completely take over. But we're not afraid to make a change if the performance isn't where it needs to be."

Now, that guy is Benedet. And if he plays well, he could potentially be that guy for a really long time.

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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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