Bear Digest

Bears Offensive Line Gets Healthier Following Day Off

Almost all of the Bears offensive linemen returned to the practice field Tuesday after a rash of injuries late last week.

Gene Chamberlain

The Bears offensive line had Teven Jenkins and Darnell Wright back at full participation for Tuesday's practice.
The Bears offensive line had Teven Jenkins and Darnell Wright back at full participation for Tuesday's practice. / Gene Chamberlain Photo | Bears On SI

The Bears returned to practice Tuesday morning in a slight rain following a day off with nearly the entire offensive line back at work following a rash of injuries dating back to just before their preseason opener in the Hall of Fame Game.

Left guard Teven Jenkins and right tackle Darnell Wright came back for full practices while right guard Nate Davis was involves on a limited basis for the second straight practice after about a week away with an unspecified injury.

The offensive line's makeup in practice this week is important because coach Matt Eberflus last week linked it to whether he would let quarterback Caleb Williams make his first preseason start Saturday at Buffalo. He said he wanted to let the process play out, presumably until he has a better idea of the line’s makeup.

When they began the team portion of practice, Ryan Bates was playing right guard for Davis. It was Coleman Shelton's day to practice with the first team at center.

Darnell Wright (58) was back at work Tuesday for the Bears after an injury last week.
Darnell Wright (58) was back at work Tuesday for the Bears after an injury last week. / Gene Chamberlain Photo | Bears On SI

While the injury situation looked better for the starting offensive line, the same couldn't be said for the Bears defense.

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Defensive linemen Montez Sweat and Andrew Billing were on the field briefly during the team's walk-through and install period at the beginning of practice but then were not involved and did work in the physical rehab area on stationary bikes.

Safety Jaquan Brisker and cornerback Kyler Gordon had the same level of participation as Billings and Sweat, while cornerback Tyrique Stevenson remained sidelined and worked in the rehab area.

This left them with only six starters on the field on defense. None of the five missing defensive players played in Thursday’s game or has practiced since before the preseason game.

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Gene Chamberlain

GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher 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.