Bear Digest

Bears Take a Look at Chicagoan

Offensive lineman Michael Schofield was given a workout by the Bears according to ESPN's Field Yates, and it could be a fit for a team badly needing some experience either challenging for a starting spot or being a backup.

Gene Chamberlain

In this story:

The Bears finally seem to be getting serious about finding  some right guard experience.

According to Field Yates of ESPN, they gave a workout to former Chargers guard Michael Schofield.

The need there is obvious since Dakota Dozier was put on injured reserve with a knee injury suffered in minicamp, and also due to Sam Mustipher's overall inexperience at the position. Mustipher has always been a center but has practiced all offseason at right guard.

Besides those two, the Bears have rookies as backups with Zachary Thomas and Ja'Tyre Carter. They haven't indicated a desire to convert one of their young tackles to guard—Teven Jenkins or Larry Borom.

Schofield has played in 102 games with 81 starts since coming into the league as a Broncos third-round pick out of Michigan in 2014. He is a Chicago area native, having played high school ball at Sandburg in Orland Park.

Schofield would be a fit on their line in a few ways beyond being a Chicagoan.

For one, he has experience and the line is sadly lacking this. He has started games at both tackle and guard. Also, he is not a lumbering inside zone mastadon but has some quickness and is only 301 pounds. As a rookie he ran 5.01 seconds in the 40. He could be a fit for their outside zone scheme.

Schofield was waived by the Broncos after two seasons and the Chargers claimed him. He played three seasons for the Chargers, went to Carolina for an injury plagued year and then signed with Baltimore but was cut and returned to the Chargers last year after Bryan Bulaga was injured. He started 12 games for them, playing then as a tackle. He had been a guard in 2018 and 2019 with the Chargers.

Schofield had blocking grades from the website Pro Football Focus in the 60s and 70s all but two years, when he was in the 50s.

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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.

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