Bears Leaning on Greatly Revamped Offensive Line Against Patriots

Ryan Bates, Larry Borom and Matt Pryor could all be moving parts within the offensive line as the Chicago Bears offense gets ready to face the New England Patriots.

It's possible Matt Pryor (79) could wind up at one of the tackle spots as a result of injuries to both Bears starting tackles. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

One rule of logic when making substitutions on the offensive line is one is better than two.

The Bears have been largely successful at avoiding more than one switch per week to starters, although at times they've had to swap out more during a game as injuries occurred.

This Sunday against New England, it's likely going to be a two-player change with Matt Pryor moving to tackle, Ryan Bates coming in at guard, and it could be three players if they move Larry Borom from left tackle to right tackle, but more than likely it would be Pryor at right tackle.

The problem is they're going to be without both starting left tackle Braxton Jones and right tackle Darnell Wright. It's not too common when a team must replace both tackles.

"Yeah, it doesn't happen very often, that's for sure," Eberflus said Friday. "But again, you've gotta adjust. You've got to adapt. You've got to overcome those adversities and the only way you do that is the people in the building. You just rally around each other. I know the next man up saying, but it's really about helping everybody around you. And we have to do that, going forward."

Eberflus tried to camouflage who would be where but it will be obvious when they actually get on the field who they settled on at what position, and there's always a chance they try more than one combination.

BEARS FORCED TO SWEAT IT OUT NOW IN NFC NORTH RACE

BEARS OFFENSIVE TREND INDICATES IT'S TIME TO TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT

WHAT BEARS OFFENSIVE LINE STATUS SAYS FOR GM RYAN POLES

NOW CALEB WILLIAMS DOESN'T EVEN RATE AS SECOND-BEST ROOKIE QB

"We had different combinations during the course of the week,"Eberflus said. "We worked on those. I'm not gonna say who's gonna line up where and all those things, but we had a couple good combinations there and guys that worked well in there with the reps they had. It's been good.

"(OC) Shane (Waldron) and (line coach Chris Morgan) have done a really good job of cross-training those guys, as I've said in the past. I think they did a good job this week of getting those guys ready to go."

Eberflus did mention the combinations did include Jake Curhan at tackle in the game. So it's something else to consider, but Curhan hasn't started a game and was on the practice squad until last week.

Bates suffered elbow and shoulder injuries in the season opener and went on IR afterward. He has healed and on Friday Eberflus said he'd be activated from IR.

"So it's gonna be good to have some depth in there and some different pieces in there," Eberflus said. "Obviously with our injuries, we're gonna need that for sure."

The Bears went through a little more than a different starting offensive line grouping almost every other week on average in Eberflus' first two seasons and have been behind that pace somewhat this year but will catch up this week.

"You'd always like to avoid any change, of course," Eberflus said. "We'd like to make this one change, but sometimes you've gotta make more. When you have multiple injuries, a lot of times, you have to make more of those. We'll see where it goes, and we have a plan in place for that. The guys have worked well this week."

At least the Bears will have a defense nearly at full health, or as full health as it can be. The loss of defensive tackle Andrew Billings for the season after Thursday's pectoral muscle surgery is going to take a toll regardless, as Zacch Pickens and veteran reserves Byron Cowart and Chris Williams must fill the gap.

And safety Jaquan Brisker misses his third straight game in a four-week span due to a concussion suffered Oct. 6 against Carolina.

But slot cornerback Kyler Gordon returns and Eberflus is glad to get a big-play threat back on defense after his absence.

"It didn't change that much in terms of the play-calling," Eberflus said. "Guys did a really good job—Reddy (Steward), (Josh) Blackwell—all those guys did a really good job of fitting in there and really taking on that role.

"That's a big spot in that defense. Our 'Will,' 'Mike,' inside guys. That guy's been a big part of this defense. It's great to have Gordon back. He's had a good week of practice. He's very dynamic in terms of his pass coverage, in terms of his pressure ability. Does a really great job. Brings a lot of great energy. And he's got ballhawk skills. He's a really good player."

The Bears defense has absorbed a collective blow to their egos after the loss to the Cardinals, when they were beaten up physically more than anything else.

Before the season they came in with a top-five goal in mind but the last two weeks have taken them from sixth to 12th in total defense, although they remain No. 5 in scoring defense.

"Yeah, and I said that all the way back in training camp: It's a prove-it league," Eberflus said. "You've got to prove it. All this talk about being top five and all those things, that's great talk. It's what you do on the grass and it's how you perform every single week.

"And we've had some plays, some chunk plays that put the yards up, so we’ve got to be more consistent. We've got to be more consistent and the guys have worked their tail off in terms of that, in terms of the run game this week. And they're excited about this performance coming up."

Twitter: BearsOnSI