Braxton Jones to IR is a HUGE Blow

[BearFan PHX]

Oh no. Apparently Braxton Jones is going to IR. This is a huge blow to an already decimated offensive line.

This really screws us.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/bears/2023/9/20/23882436/bears-braxton-jones-injured-reserve-put-neck-injury-buccaneers-chiefs-left-tackle-matt-eberflus-nfl

[adam]

40% of starting O-Line on IR (Jenkins, Jones) and 40% of the starting secondary injured or on IR (Gordon, Jackson). Mooney dinged up, Claypool all over the place, Tonyan basically non-existent to this point. Teams get injuries, but now the Bears are up to 3x starters on IR (14%). Not good.

LT is now Borom or they may slide Wright over there and put Borom in at RT. Either way, not ideal.

[DABEARSDABOMB]

This flew totally under the radar. I know he had his penalty issues - but this is a big blow.  

[BearFan PHX]

So lemme get this straight.

The entire left side of the OL is missing its starters.
The secondary is missing 40% of its starters.
Our Defensive Coordinator is missing and being raided by the FBI as well as our team headquarters.
Our QB is gonna start to freelance more.
We've got the Chiefs this week.

What could go wrong?

[Stinger226]

I'm going to defend the regime a bit. They don't plan injuries, Jenkins and Jones are out. They said Nate Davis is back this week. It will be Borom or they said JaTre Carter could play there, he was a left tackle in college. It's a mess but we'll see how they handle it. I suspect there will be a lot of power runs and Justin running more. Easier to run block than pass block. 

[Alaskan Grizzly]

1 hour ago, BearFan PHX said:

So lemme get this straight.

The entire left side of the OL is missing its starters.
The secondary is missing 40% of its starters.
Our Defensive Coordinator is missing and being raided by the FBI as well as our team headquarters.
Our QB is gonna start to freelance more.
We've got the Chiefs this week.

What could go wrong?

Peterman was released today as well.  Bagent is now #2.  🤷🏻‍♂️

[ChileBear]

Waiting for Poles to say something after this S*&T Show. 

[BearFan PHX]

17 minutes ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

Peterman was released today as well.  Bagent is now #2.  🤷🏻‍♂️

yeah, I guess Bagent will be #2 unless we are in the midst of some crazy secret QB trade?

[Alaskan Grizzly]

30 minutes ago, BearFan PHX said:

yeah, I guess Bagent will be #2 unless we are in the midst of some crazy secret QB trade?

I could see them going after any available above average rated Oline FA at this point.  Although I did read Nate Davis returned to Halas Hall today so that’s good to see.  

[Mongo3451]

I wonder if that's why he whiffed on that sack Sunday.  It seemed pretty egregious.  I hope it's nothing more than a stinger.  I've had them.  If not treated properly they will linger.

[ASHKUM BEAR]

The Bears are in a free fall.  Might be worth moving Wright to LT and Borum to RG.  The good news is Nate Davis returning and Jenkins is two weeks away.  

 

[Stinger226]

The problem is they came out of the box with 2 loses and then everything that happens is blown up. Davis story-Claypool issue-Williams leaving- Justin not running. Most people predicted them to be bad anywhere from 5-8 wins and now everyone is surprised.   I think by mid season we will have some wins and things will die down.

[Mongo3451]

2 hours ago, ASHKUM BEAR said:

The Bears are in a free fall.  Might be worth moving Wright to LT and Borum to RG.  The good news is Nate Davis returning and Jenkins is two weeks away.  

 

I wouldn't.  Wright is a true RT and is still learning, week to week.  A move hinders his development.  Borom can hold his own with a little chip, here and there.

[BearFan PHX]

2 hours ago, Mongo3451 said:

I wouldn't.  Wright is a true RT and is still learning, week to week.  A move hinders his development.  Borom can hold his own with a little chip, here and there.

I agree with this. Leave Wright where he is, developing him is most important.

[DABEARSDABOMB]

33 minutes ago, BearFan PHX said:

I agree with this. Leave Wright where he is, developing him is most important.

Thirded - completely agree. 

[AZ54]

11 hours ago, adam said:

40% of starting O-Line on IR (Jenkins, Jones) and 40% of the starting secondary injured or on IR (Gordon, Jackson). Mooney dinged up, Claypool all over the place, Tonyan basically non-existent to this point. Teams get injuries, but now the Bears are up to 3x starters on IR (14%). Not good.

LT is now Borom or they may slide Wright over there and put Borom in at RT. Either way, not ideal.

Nah Flus seemed pretty clear they want to keep Wright at RT.   I think that's best too especially with Davis coming back.  We've been running with Patrick for a couple weeks so just change one position with Borom.   At least Borom gets to practice all week to prepare and he looked much better in preseason.   

Hopefully Jones' injury isn't serious.   That doesn't seem likely for a 4 wk IR plan but sometimes these neck issues can go sideways quickly.  

[Stinger226]

Until we see how this plays out on the OL and how they play Sunday,  this is going to a doom and gloom week leading up to the game. Is all of this going on going to create a ( rally the troops) kind of game and they look good Sunday? Probably not . I dont think there will be signing at OT that is going to come in and save the day.

[adam]

If they move Wright, they are reaching and trying to save their jobs. I agree that Wright just needs to stay put. Sucks that 2/5 of the line is on IR and they are still dealing with Davis. Poles has to be held accountable for this. Jenkins was always an injury risk, you always have to expect injuries (Jones), and why take the risk of someone like Davis when there were other more stable options out there?

[Stinger226]

We are in our second year,  2 games into a 3-4 year rebuild, am I wrong to think Poles should at least get a pass until next year's draft? I realize he has made some mistakes but its about the endgame next year not the, fire his ass now verbiage.                     

The great Shanahan, traded 3 first round picks for a failed QB and everyone praises him because he has built a winning team. he did not do that in 19 games. In his first year in SF he went 6-10. He started 0-9 to begin the season. In 2018 he went 1-7 at the beginning of the year and finished 5-12. I get he had a good track record going in but he was given time to build a winner. Poles cant get past 19 games?

[Daventry]

I wouldn’t be looking to fire Poles, he has made some very good moves.  However, if we don’t start looking better pretty soon, some of the coaching staff has to go.  The two that spring to mind is OC and HC.  DC is already gone, and the whole thing seems to be handled pretty poorly so far.

[BearFan PHX]

4 hours ago, Stinger226 said:

We are in our second year,  2 games into a 3-4 year rebuild, am I wrong to think Poles should at least get a pass until next year's draft? I realize he has made some mistakes but its about the endgame next year not the, fire his ass now verbiage.                     

The great Shanahan, traded 3 first round picks for a failed QB and everyone praises him because he has built a winning team. he did not do that in 19 games. In his first year in SF he went 6-10. He started 0-9 to begin the season. In 2018 he went 1-7 at the beginning of the year and finished 5-12. I get he had a good track record going in but he was given time to build a winner. Poles cant get past 19 games?

I agree with you about Poles. But Getsy and even Flus are on the hot seat for sure.

[adam]

For Poles, he will get a 3rd year, and maybe more if they draft a QB in 2024. I really think that is what they are doing. I know they say they are all in on Fields, but I really think they are setting him up for failure, in doing so, they will lose games, get a better draft pick, then next year, if they improve, they can point to Fields being the problem. 

Fields is not a Poles draft pick, and the rookie QB timeline is off with the reset. Preferably you would want a rookie this year or next year and get 5 years out of them 2-3 years into the rebuild.

[BearFan PHX]

55 minutes ago, adam said:

For Poles, he will get a 3rd year, and maybe more if they draft a QB in 2024. I really think that is what they are doing. I know they say they are all in on Fields, but I really think they are setting him up for failure, in doing so, they will lose games, get a better draft pick, then next year, if they improve, they can point to Fields being the problem. 

Fields is not a Poles draft pick, and the rookie QB timeline is off with the reset. Preferably you would want a rookie this year or next year and get 5 years out of them 2-3 years into the rebuild.

(almost) all agree. I wonder though if they were sure Fields wasnt the guy. I suspect they wanted to see what they had with him.

I don't think they are purposely setting him up for failure, but i do think that his failure tells them that they need a new QB, and I do think Poles had that possibility in mind when he made the trade with Carolina, looking at the 2024 class rather than what was available in the 2023 group. He may even have thought that there is a good chance Fields wont improve. But i dont think they are holding him back on purpose at all. But maybe Im being naive.

[Stinger226]

17 hours ago, BearFan PHX said:

(almost) all agree. I wonder though if they were sure Fields wasnt the guy. I suspect they wanted to see what they had with him.

I don't think they are purposely setting him up for failure, but i do think that his failure tells them that they need a new QB, and I do think Poles had that possibility in mind when he made the trade with Carolina, looking at the 2024 class rather than what was available in the 2023 group. He may even have thought that there is a good chance Fields wont improve. But i dont think they are holding him back on purpose at all. But maybe Im being naive.

Yes to your opinions but 2 games is just a small sample size to make long term decisions, its just isnt trending well right now. Plenty of time to right the ship. 

[adam]

Getsy has had Fields for two full offseasons, the entire season last years, and now 2 more regular season games this year. So it's not like it is just two games. Fields has been afforded a lot of time to progress (20+ months) and the eye test says he has actually regressed. That stretch he had in the middle of last season was strictly his elite athleticism and nothing related to his development as a QB. So I think it masked some sentiments about him. No one wants him to fail, the Bears fans have been through enough, we are mentally exhausted with the revolving door at QB, OC, DC, HC, GM, etc, etc. However, that doesn't make up for what we see and what his stats say. They match. That is not good. 

I really hope whatever needs to click, clicks. Even a loss in KC, which is expected, is fine, as long as the offense looks better and the team is competitive. The playoffs are already a longshot starting 0-2, and at 0-3 near impossible, so if you lower the expectations back to 7 wins, it looks more achievable to go 7-7 the rest of the way after 0-3. The only way they are going to get there is if Fields improves.