LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- As the Bears speed toward a potential offseason of change, the questions surrounding the uncertain futures of quarterback Justin Fields and head coach Matt Eberflus have caused another critical rebuild issue to largely fly under the radar.
Second-year left tackle Braxton Jones entered the season knowing he still needed to prove to general manager Ryan Poles and Eberflus that he was a franchise left tackle. The Bears drafted right tackle Darnell Wright in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft, in part because they believed Jones was primed for a massive second season.
Jones spent the offseason working on getting stronger to anchor against the bullrush. His trial-by-fire rookie season taught him that succeeding in the NFL was as much about preparation as it is about execution.
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He arrived at training camp confident that his intense offseason of work would pay off and he'd be able to cement himself as the Bears' franchise blindside protector.
That hasn't happened.
A neck injury in Week 2 cost Jones six games and countless hours he could've spent sharpening his skills if healthy. Jones returned in Week 9 but has been rusty, and the results have been mixed. Jones knows he hasn't done what he set out to do at the start of the season.
The Bears' future at left tackle remains murky at best.
“It’s just tough to gauge," Jones told NBC Sports Chicago. "People don’t know really what I went through with the injury. They don’t understand the injury or kind of what happened. It’s just tough to gauge. I wouldn’t say I’m playing true left tackle football yet. I don’t think many people would. It’s just been tough coming back from that and kind of dealing with that."
It's impossible to know how Jones' season would have played out without the Week 2 injury. But he has to put that in the past. He's healthy now, and he has to do his job. No one is going to feel sorry for him because he missed a chunk of the season that zapped him of needed time on turf.
"At the end of the day, you got to perform," Jones said. "I’m out there healthy, so I just got to perform better. Other than that, the injury kind of sets you back. When people were getting better, you can’t use that to an excuse. But it’s hard. I did the best I could. I worked at it. Tried to get better week in and week out. That’s still what I’m trying to do. The penalty and the holding calls have been cleaned up. But other than that, technically it just needs to get better.”
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Jones has been an average left tackle when on the field this season.
According to Pro Football Focus, Jones' 25 pressures allowed ranks tied for 22nd among tackles with at least 300 pass-blocking snaps. He is tied for third with only one sack allowed and trails only Trent Williams and Tyron Smith, who have not surrendered a sack this season. In true pass sets, Jones has allowed 20 pressures, which ranks 25th. His efficiency, which measures pressures allowed on a per-snap basis, ranks 48th out of 63.
There have been good moments and bad moments from Jones since his return. His play has ebbed and flowed as he tries to find the consistent pass-pro technique he had in training camp.
Sunday's loss to the Cleveland Browns, in which Jones allowed eight pressures and was dominated by Myles Garrett, showed the gap between OK left tackle play and what's required to be a franchise guy.
“There’s just a lot of things," Jones said of what has gone wrong with his pass pro since returning from injury. "If you even look back to my last games last year – maybe before we got to the end – I was playing low, playing with fairly good pad level. I just feel like with that injury, I just, I don’t know, it put everything out of whack for me. It was a big confidence thing more than anything. I just wasn’t letting my natural abilities hang. I feel like I was hesitant and have been hesitant.
"When you go against a good player like that, you have to be close to perfect on your sets. That’s what it is and you’ll get a better outcome. I’d say I was mediocre.”
The Bears' staff and teammates have praised Jones' Year 2 growth both on the field and as a leader for that unit.
His performance against Garrett clearly wasn't good enough, but it can serve as a measuring stick for where he's at and what he must improve on to be the player the Bears need.
"Braxton’s an ascending player so I think there’s nothing he can’t take away from this as all growth," offensive coordinator Luke Getsy said of the matchup vs. Garrett.
But with the Bears set to have two picks in the top 10 of the 2024 NFL Draft, Jones is almost out of time to deliver the needed closing argument that he's the future at left tackle.
With Penn State's Olu Fashanu and Notre Dame's Joe Alt entering the draft, the Bears will have the chance to select a blue-chip left tackle early should they deem it necessary.
Jones will play a role in the rebuild going forward, but it's still unclear if that will be as the starting left tackle or swing tackle.
"[Jones] has the tools to be a good pro tackle," an NFC scout whose team played the Bears this season told NBC Sports Chicago. "Good length. Good mobility. He needs to get stronger. Consistency is an issue. For where he was drafted [fifth round], it's clear they got a player. But is he going to grow into more than an average starter? Can he be in the upper-tier? I'm not sure I see that."
Entering the regular season, there was belief inside Halas Hall that Jones was going to break out in 2023. The offseason program he and offensive line coach Chris Morgan developed had been executed to a tee. He better understood the intricacies of successful pass pro in the NFL and the preparation required to reach the level he was aiming for.
The neck injury changed everything and might have thrown an unnecessary wrinkle into the BEars' offseason plans.
"In terms of the physical, I mean I feel like I just took a giant step back with the injury, just not being able to do anything," Jones said. "Definitely not where I want to be. Definitely not where I was at the beginning of the season in terms of how I felt and how confident I was in my pass pro and all stuff like that.
"If I’m being honest with myself, I definitely think that could be more up to speed with my sets. When I was coming into camp and coming into the actual season, I was feeling really good about my set and then I had the setback with the injury and couldn’t really do much, couldn’t really set or due all the stuff I wanted to do. It’s just tough but I’m trying to play the catch up game. ... I’m getting there. I got to put more energy and effort into it.”
The Bears can't evaluate what would have or could have been with Jones had he not had the neck injury. They have to grade what he has done on the field when deciding about their future at arugably the second most important position in football.
The best-case scenario for the Bears was to exit the season with firm knowledge of Fields' potential as a franchise quarterback and Jones' ability to become an elite left tackle. Injuries and inconsistent play will likely make it a guessing game for Poles in the offseason.
The Bears love Jones and believe in his talent and work ethic. But with two perceived elite tackles at the top of the class, the time to bank on projection might be over.
For Jones, he, like Fields, has three games left to deliver an emphatic closing argument to Poles and his staff.
"I know what it’s supposed to look like and I know what it can look like," Jones said. "That's what it will look like."