The Chicago Bears have an interesting decision to make on their offensive line ahead of their highly anticipated matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles on Black Friday. Ever since the bye week, the Bears made a change on their offensive line to start Theo Benedet at left tackle. For six weeks, Benedet held the spot down with varying degrees of success but had to miss last week’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers due to a quad injury.
With Benedet out, second-round rookie Ozzy Trapilo made his first start of the season and performed well against a formidable Steelers defensive front during the Bears’ 31-28 victory. Head coach Ben Johnson praised Trapilo for his development and likes what he sees from the rookie.
“It’s almost like things have slowed down for him,” Johnson told the media on Wednesday. “I feel it around the building with him, not even so much on the practice field, but I feel it in the building with him… He’s not a rookie anymore as far as I’m concerned.” Johnson isn’t sure what specifically happened for Trapilo to get to this point, but something has clicked. “He knows he belongs. I think he’s got confidence, and it doesn’t really matter right side or left side; I think he knows he can be a very productive player at this level.”
That was always the hope with Trapilo, who at one point seemed destined to take over the starting left tackle spot during training camp. But the Bears shifted course by working Benedet and Braxton Jones at that spot, while moving Trapilo to the right side.
Benedet is on track to play Friday against the Eagles, however, as he was a full participant during Wednesday’s practice. There’s no guarantee the second-year undrafted lineman will regain his spot, though. Johnson was asked point-blank if Benedet is still the starting left tackle when healthy. “We will see,” he said with a smile.
Johnson has addressed those questions directly in the past, so the fact he’s failing to provide clarity could be for competitive advantage or because the Bears are open to making a change. We may not know until close to game time who will be protecting quarterback Caleb Williams’ blind side, but it’s something the Bears will need to be comfortable with against a talented Eagles defensive front.
