After two games, the Bears are still not ready to name a starting right guard. On Sunday Night Football, the Bears continued their rotation of Teven Jenkins and Lucas Patrick. On Monday, Eberflus hinted that may continue.
“It depends on where we have Lucas,” Eberflus said. “If we have Lucas or outside, depending on what he can do with his thumb. I think that'll determine what we're gonna do. But we have to wait and see on that.”
Patrick, who is recovering from a hand injury, has played with a cast that has prevented him from snapping. To get him involved, the Bears moved him from center to right guard in the aforementioned rotation with Jenkins. Every two series or so, the players switch. In Eberflus’ eyes neither man has won the job outright, if Patrick still isn’t ready to snap the ball.
“I saw Lucas play well at times and I saw Teven play well,” Eberflus said.
Each man had ups and downs against the Packers, as Eberflus said. Jenkins was pushed back for a pressure early in the game, and whiffed on a block on a screen. After that one pressure, though, Jenkins was sturdy in pass pro, and ranged from good to dominant in the run game. Patrick stood his ground in pass pro for the most part, and did his job when called upon to be the pulling guard in the run game. But Patrick was never as dominant as Jenkins, and on the pivotal 4th-and-inches run, Patrick wasn’t able to maintain his block on the point of attack, which played a part in the Packers stopping Fields short of the endzone. Instead of helping to move the pile forward on that play, Patrick ended up on the ground.
With both Jenkins and Patrick turning in mixed performances, coaches will kick the can to see if either player can win the job down the road一 again, if Patrick isn’t ready to move back to center. The Bears won’t return to practice until Wednesday, so we won’t get any more clarity until the middle of the week at the earliest.
