Camp Report: Chicago Bears offensive line struggles as injuries force shake ups

LAKE FOREST, Ill. - The Bears were back in Halas Hall for the second-straight day following the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio.

They get a day off on Monday, and it's hard to argue they don't need it.

Here's our latest from Bears training camp, where the offensive line had a different look on Sunday for various reasons.

Makeshift offensive line struggles

It was not a good day for the Bears' offensive line. 

First things first, though, the offensive line was not at 100 percent. 

In fact, they weren't even playing the usual starters we saw last week. Here's a breakdown of that:

Offensive lines

The Bears started out with Braxton Jones, Teven Jenkins, Ryan Bates, Nate Davis and Matt Pryor at offensive line going through walk-throughs with the first-team offense.

That changed after walk-throughs, when Davis and Jenkins both left practice.

Jenkins left with a trainer and did not return. Davis was seen on the sidelines staying warm on the exercise machines. It was Davis' first practice since July 27, when he suffered a strain and was day-to-day.

After that, the Bears had a combination of Pryor, Jerome Carvin, Bates, Jones and Bill Murray on the first-team offensive line. It was, to put it lightly, a struggle.

Offensive lines performances

The units after the first-team walk-throughs struggled aplenty. This was more evident going into the two-minute drills. 

Bears head coach Matt Eberflus made the offense start over after it went three plays that included a sack and a fumbled snap. Coleman Shelton was in at center for the two-minute drill.

The situation placed the offense at its own 30-yard line with 1:10 on the clock and multiple timeouts.

After starting over, Caleb Williams had a completion to DJ Moore for a first down, but the offense stalled after that. The defense recorded a sack and TJ Edwards batted down a pass for a break up, which brought the second stringers on.

It was a struggle all around, but the biggest question lies in the injuries to Davis and Jenkins. Jenkins, who had been shaken up before at practices last week, returned if he needed some treatment.

After he didn't return on Sunday, that left a lingering question on what would the Bears do without Jenkins? They've already practiced plenty without Davis, and Bates proved he's an asset outside of the center competition.

The good news is the Bears have three weeks of preseason football to figure it out.

First impressions of the new kickoff rule

The Bears and Texans were guinea pigs for the rest of the NFL last Thursday as the two teams debuted the NFL's new kickoff rules.

Bears special teams coordinator Richard Hightower noted how fast it all was once he was seeing it in real-time.

"It happens really fast," Hightower said. "I took away that angles are really important, body types are really important."

The Bears had a plan going into the Hall of Fame Game, which was to return all kick offs no matter what. The Bears wanted to start with the return game first before getting into the intricacies of it all.

Tyler Scott and John Jackson both combined to return all four of the Bears' kick returns. The two combined to gain 99 return yards and average 24.8 yards per kick return.

It allowed Hightower to lean more into the idea of what he wanted to see in his kick returners. 

"You always want your players bigger, faster, stronger," Hightower said.

However, Hightower did stress that it was all very vanilla. 

The Bears and Texans went out there on Thursday with a very plain game plan. They don't want to give away too much ahead of a regualr season where the kick off rules could give a team a competitive advantage.

Don't expect that to change this preseason.

"It’s a delicate balance," Hightower said. "We’re diving head first into it trying to figure it out."

Sunday Standounds

Although the offensive line struggled, the defense had a few standouts on Sunday,

Terell Smith, the second-year player out of Minnesota, looked good in coverage and had pass break-ups in every period of play. He had a pass break up in the 11-on-11 period, where he almost tipped it to himself for an interception. DJ Moore did beat Smith for a touchdown, but that's hard to fault the cornerback against a top-10 receiver in the league.

Caleb Williams did have a good 7-on-7 period, where he only had one incomplete pass and had his touchdown strike to Moore for a touchdown. It was hard to evaluate him after that due to the issues on the offensive line.

Injury Report

There was a lengthy list of players not in pads on Sunday. That includes Tyrique Stevenson, Kyler Gordon, Andrew Billings, Montez Sweat and Darnell Wright.

Davis and Jenkins practiced early Sunday before leaving. They did not return to practice.