When left tackle Braxton Jones became an unrestricted free agent this year for the first time, he was motivated to re-sign with the Bears so he could compete for his old starting job.
On Tuesday, coach Ben Johnson revealed that Jones will, in fact, open Sunday's season opener against the Panthers. That declaration means that Jones will have started all five Week 1 games since his arrival in 2022 as a fifth-round draft pick from Southern Utah.
Asked how players are judged to determine who starts and receives playing time, Johnson said: "It's every position that's being evaluated … He's got to earn that, Braxton does, as do all the players that are going to be active on game day. They've got to earn it. They've got to show us that they deserve to be out there. That's how we go about it in this building, and I think they understand that."
Jones started all 17 games as a rookie in 2022 and remained the Bears' No. 1 left tackle the next two seasons, though injuries limited him to 11 contests in 2023 and 12 in 2024.
Despite still rebounding from a broken fibula that ended his 2024 campaign, Jones won a competition last summer with Ozzy Trapilo, Theo Benedet and Kiran Amegadjie for the starting job. Jones opened the first four games before being replaced by Trapilo in the second quarter of a road win over the Raiders.
A few weeks later, Jones sustained a knee injury in practice that sidelined him for the rest of the season. He returned to practice in advance of the playoffs but did not play in either of the Bears' two postseason games versus the Packers and Rams.
Jones earned the starting nod for Sunday's season opener at Carolina despite missing 10 days of training camp with a knee injury he suffered in practice.
Trapilo also could be an option at left tackle down the road. Originally expected to miss most or all of the season with a knee injury he sustained in the Bears' wild card win over Green Bay, the second-year pro returned to practice Aug. 16, much earlier than expected.
"I don't have a timeline, but I do think he's getting invaluable work right now, whether it's individual or some of the things we're doing after practice," Johnson said. "That was our intent. Today's a padded practice. We want to make sure he's maximizing the number of padded opportunities he gets as he's continuing to get better every single week.
"So, I think it's a matter of time. I can't say it's in the near future. I know he's working his tail off. It's been beyond impressive for him to be where he is today. The fact that he's out there with those guys and he's strong, he's flexible, it's a credit to him. It's a credit to the guys in the weight room who have been training him. I think we're headed in the right direction there."
