Chicago Bears Offensive Line Crisis Just Got A Lot Worse
The Chicago Bears have allowed 11 sacks in the past two games on Justin Fields. Their offensive line hasn’t been able to consistently pass protect. What makes it even more terrifying is three of their next four games will be on the road against strong defenses in Minnesota, New England, and Dallas. Well, injury to insult always seems to be the name of the game in this league. More bad news got piled on Monday when head coach Matt Eberflus revealed left guard Cody Whitehair was going to miss “some time.”
He wasn’t specific about anything else. Yet it’s not hard to gauge where this is going. Whitehair exited the New York Giants game with a right knee injury. He was spotted wearing a brace coming out of the locker room and needed a cart to carry him to the team bus. It is hard to speculate that he may land on Injured Reserve in the near future. That would knock him out for at least the next four weeks.
Just like that, the Bears have lost their most experienced blocker.
Coach Eberflus announced that Cody Whitehair will miss some time with a knee injury. pic.twitter.com/66K44NDZDa
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) October 3, 2022
The Chicago Bears don’t have many solutions.
Their depth along the offensive line was already questionable. Lucas Patrick figures to replace Whitehair at left guard while Sam Mustipher stays at center. Teven Jenkins will take over the right guard spot full-time. Not an inspiring trio outside of Jenkins. It reinforces why GM Ryan Poles was so active in the off-season trying to find help. Justin Fields is already the most sacked quarterback in the league. Nobody wants to think about the idea it might get worse.
One also has to wonder how this might impact Whitehair’s future. He’s 30 years old and a holdover from the previous regime. The Chicago Bears would be able to get out of his expensive contract while securing $5.8 million in cap space next off-season. Poles tends not to like older players with injury histories. Whitehair has been largely dependable most of his career. This setback is untimely for him.