Bears Status Check Against the Eagles

With four games left against contenders for either a division title or playoff spot, the Bears have a unique opportunity.

They can look at several positions or personnel situations that could be unsettled heading to the offseason and determine the extent of change they need to pursue, if any.

Playing against teams contending or desperate to win out gives them a better read on the positions than if they were facing downtrodden teams playing out the string with people who likely wouldn't be in a lineup next year.

Here are those positional situations they need to see more of to make an informed decision.

Center Exchange

There was no center exchange. Sam Mustipher kept the position even though it was promised to Lucas Patrick, who had to play two games at both left and right guard before his season-ending toe injury. They saw him 10 plays a center and Mustipher remembers the sting of being benched well, even if only for 10 plays.

"Anytime you go to the bench, you should probably come back better," Mustipher said. "It was rough, a tough pill to swallow but at the end of the day, I could sulk about it or do something about it. And I chose to do something about it."

Pro Football Focus had never been a fan of Mustipher's but has graded him much-improved over the course of the season and at 17th overall. It's a far cry from when he was graded in the mid-to-late 30s.

With Patrick still under contract, Mustipher merely a restricted free agent and rookie Doug Kramer on injured reserve, the Bears might want to really study Mustipher's finish to see if they should stand pat at this position going forward or use some of their cash to bring in one of the highly respected free agent centers in the pool like Ethan Pocic, Connor McGovern or Garrett Bradbury.

Keeping Up with Justin Jones

It's not easy keeping track of where Justin Jones is playing these days. He played some at end against the Packers and it sounds as though he'll be tried there or at nose tackle in addition to three technique. It seems a sign they'll be looking to add at least one tackle who is a three technique and that Jones' second year would be as a member of the rotation at several spots.

"Justin's done great in there; he's done a good job," coach Matt Eberflus said. "Again, we're looking at him at defensive end, like we talked about last week, which will be cool for him to be able to look at that, but also play inside. We do a lot of movements inside. That really enhances his skill set. But he's done well in there."

It seems some revisionist history is going on here or there were secret agendas.

"That's why we brought him here," Eberflus said. "We brought him here from the Chargers because he can play all positions. He can play the five, the nine, the one, three. He can play all of those."

If Jones had been the total answer at three technique, there would be no other positions. And while it was known he moved around with the Chargers, the Bears sure didn't bill him as a guy who slides around up front when they brought him to Chicago.

He was the three technique.

Keeping Up with the Other Jones

Is Braxton Jones to be trusted for Year 2? Was this a waste of time letting him start all year and develop or did he do enough to be given a chance to progress further as starter next year? The last four games can help them determine this.

A $115 million salary cap lets a team pursue the highest-priced players and they could easily replace Jones if they wanted, and turn him into perhaps a swing tackle.

"Braxton's been solid," Eberflus said. "As you (media) know, he's done a good job for a rookie to be able to play in there all these ... his maturity and handle everything he's been handling. I think he would say it, too, is he's really gotta firm up on the bull rushes. That's the biggest thing he's gotta do is take a big set, be able to firm his inside leg there and stay firm in the pocket.

"He's gotta really do a good job these next four weeks and again, this is a big challenge this week. (The Eagles have) got a couple waves of defensive line—probably the deepest defensive line in the whole league. It's gonna be a big challenge for our offensive line for sure."

Three Heads the Same as None?

At right tackle, they're planning to shuttle in Alex Leatherwood for snaps while keeping Riley Reif on the field for now, too. Reif is a free agent after this year and at age 34 a long shot to be back. Leatherwood got less than a dozen snaps last week.

Larry Borom has an ankle injury and Eberflus didn't seem overly optimistic they'd get him back this week so he could play.

It seems up to Leatherwood to show he can be part of the future on the line to prevent the team pursuing a higher-priced free agent tackle.

Let Harry's Jersey Get Dirty

N'Keal Harry has no contract after this season so they need to see more opportunities from him for plays like the 49-yard catch against the Packers.

He'll need to produce because they're financially in position to upgrade from among a poor lot of free agent receivers or draft one, presumably after Round 1 due to defensive line needs.

Linebacker Appraisal

Jack Sanborn figures to be back in Chicago next year regardless, but he could further convince the coaches he can be their starting middle linebacker in the final four games. It seems he'll need to force some turnovers to be more convincing.

"When I talk to linebackers, it's about hits on the ball," Eberflus said. "Can you affect the ball? Are you tackling? Are you punching the ball? Are you taking the ball away? He's had a lot of tackles. He's improved his tackling; last week, I thought his tackling was better. I would say his ball production probably needs to improve."

The same may or may not be true for starting weakside linebacker Nicholas Morrow. Has he lived up to expectations? He has only a one-year deal. Spotrac.com has projected his next contract to be worth north of $7 million for a year.

Morrow averaged 2 1/2 tackles less than Sanborn has playing middle linebacker. When they moved Morrow to Roquan Smith's position at weakside linebacker, he has averaged 4.2 tackles less per game than Smith. He also has no fumbles forced, no fumble recoveries and no interceptions in 13 starts, six at weakside and seven in the middle.

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