Tag: Lucas Patrick

Bears 2022 End of Year Awards: Picking MVP, Breakout Player of the Year and more

As we look to close the page on the 2022 season, our Bears Wire staff share their picks for MVP, Comeback Player of the Year and more.

The Chicago Bears wrapped their 2022 season with a 3-14 record, which culminated in a 10-game losing streak.

While Chicago finished with the worst record in the league, there are reasons to be optimistic about the future. Not only do they have the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL draft and around $118 million in salary cap space, but they have their quarterback in Justin Fields.

As we look to close the page on the 2022 season, our Bears Wire staff share their picks for our End of Year Awards, including MVP, Offense and Defensive Players of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year, Breakout Player of the Year and Most Disappointing Player.

Bears 2022 OL review: Teven Jenkins, Braxton Jones bright spots among struggling unit

Our next Bears position review of 2022 looks at the offensive line, which featured some standouts on a struggling unit.

The Chicago Bears wrapped the 2022 season with a 3-14 record, which culminated in a 10-game losing streak. But there’s still reasons to be optimistic about the future, including a boatload of salary cap space, the first overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft and the emergence of quarterback Justin Fields.

Here at Bears Wire, we’re going position by position through the 2022 Bears and grading every player. Next up is the offensive line, which had its share of struggles in pass protection and will likely be overhauled this offseason.

Bears OL Lucas Patrick out for season following foot surgery

Bears lineman Lucas Patrick will miss the rest of the season after he underwent surgery to repair his injured toe.

The Chicago Bears will be without veteran center/guard Lucas Patrick for the rest of the season. On Wednesday, head coach Matt Eberflus announced Patrick had surgery a couple weeks ago to repair his injured toe that has kept him out for the last four weeks and will miss the rest of the year.

Patrick injured his toe during the Bears’ 33-14 route of the New England Patriots back in late October and was placed on injured reserve, forcing him to miss the last four games. He was eligible to be activated this week, but he’ll now miss the final six games as he recovers.

Patrick was signed this spring to a two-year deal after six seasons with the Green Bay Packers. The veteran lineman was slated to become the team’s new starting center, but a thumb injury forced him to miss almost the entirety of training camp and the preseason. He returned for Week 1, but played guard almost exclusively during the regular season. Patrick was making his first regular-season start at center against the Patriots before he was injured.

The Bears will now rely on Sam Mustipher for the rest of the season as their starting center. Mustipher was set to back Patrick up, but wound up starting due to Patrick’s thumb injury and will now continue doing so as the Bears gear up for the final portion of their season.

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Bears Week 8 injury report: Larry Borom DNP Wednesday

The Bears released their first injury report ahead of Sunday’s game against the Cowboys. See Wednesday’s report here:

The Chicago Bears (3-4) released their first injury report ahead of Sunday’s Week 8 game against the Dallas Cowboys (5-2), where there were a couple of offensive linemen sidelined.

Heading into this Week 8 matchup against the Cowboys, the Bear are relatively healthy — except along the offensive line. Center Lucas Patrick is expected to land on injured reserve with a toe injury, but there was a surprise addition on the injury report.

Here’s a look at the full injury report from Wednesday’s practice:

Bears OL Lucas Patrick headed to injured reserve

The Bears will place OL Lucas Patrick on IR, which means he’ll be eligible to return Week 12, at the earliest.

It’s more unfortunate news along the offensive line for the Chicago Bears as center Lucas Patrick will be sidelined for at least a month.

Bears coach Matt Eberflus told reporters Wednesday that Patrick is expected to land on injured reserve, which will sideline him for a minimum of four games. Patrick will be eligible to return in Week 12 against the New York Jets.

Patrick suffered a toe injury in Monday night’s win against the New England Patriots. Patrick was making his first start at center this season, where he replaced Sam Mustipher. Now, Mustipher will be back starting at center until Patrick’s return.

Eberflus also noted that Dieter Eiselen will be elevated from the practice squad to the 53-man roster, where he’ll be the backup option at center. Left guard Cody Whitehair, who also has experience at center, remains on IR. He’s eligible to return next week when Chicago hosts the Miami Dolphins.

With Patrick landing on IR, here’s what the offensive line looks like: LT Braxton Jones, LG Michael Schofield, C Sam Mustipher, RG Teven Jenkins, RT Larry Borom.

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Bears in ‘wait-and-see’ mode with Lucas Patrick’s toe injury

Bears OL Lucas Patrick is working with team doctors to determine the extent of his toe injury.

The Chicago Bears were healthy heading into Monday’s game against the New England Patriots. Although, it didn’t last too long after offensive lineman Lucas Patrick exited with an injury.

Patrick, who was playing guard through the first six games, got his first start at center on Monday night. It was part of some changes along the offensive line following the mini-bye week, where Sam Mustipher was benched for Patrick and Michael Schofield got the nod at left guard.

Unfortunately, Patrick only saw the field for 10 snaps before suffering a toe injury in the second quarter. After being examined in the medical tent, he was carted off to the locker room.

Bears coach Matt Eberflus didn’t have an update on Patrick’s status, only noting that Patrick is still working with team doctors to determine the extent of the injury. He wouldn’t speculate about whether it could be a short or long-term absence.

“Right now, we’re still in a wait-and-see,” Eberflus said Tuesday, via 670 the Score.

When Patrick exited the game, a benched Mustipher assumed the center role. Mustipher had started all last season at center and through the first six games of this season, where he’s been a liability. Still, he provided depth at an important position for the Bears.

“Sam is a true pro, a consummate pro,” Eberflus said. “When we made the switch, he just went to work. Because in this business, it’s one snap and you’re back in. One snap and you’re starting for several games, which he did. He’s a tough guy, mentally and physically tough. He came in there and did a nice job for us.”

The Bears will release their first injury report of the week following Wednesday’s practice, where we’ll get an idea of where Patrick is at ahead of Sunday’s matchup against the Dallas Cowboys.

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Bears OL Lucas Patrick doubtful to return with toe injury

After making his first start at center this season, Bears OL Lucas Patrick left Monday’s game with a toe injury.

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Bears offensive lineman Lucas Patrick’s stint at center was short-lived after he suffered an injury in the first quarter of Monday night’s game against the Patriots.

Patrick, who made his first start at center this season, suffered a toe injury near the end of the first quarter. He had a bit of a limp coming out of the medical tent, and he was later carted back to the locker room.

The Bears announced that Patrick is doubtful to return with a toe injury. He was replaced by Sam Mustipher, who was just benched this week after some struggles this season.

The good news is quarterback Justin Fields has plenty of experience taking snaps from Mustipher. The bad news? Mustipher has been a liability in pass protection this season. We’ll see how things shake out.

Bear Necessities: Lucas Patrick says the offensive line must be better for Justin Fields

Bears OG Lucas Patrick knows the offensive line needs to be better, specifically for Justin Fields “because he deserves it.”

This is our online morning newsletter, Bear Necessities. Subscribe to get the latest Bears news delivered to your mailbox every day.

There’s a lot of blame to go around when it comes to the Bears’ offensive struggles. The offensive line has been a big part of it, where they’ve struggled to keep quarterback Justin Fields upright.

Through six games, Fields has been sacked a league-most 23 times, and, according to ESPN, Fields has been pressured on 46 percent of his drop backs.

Lucas Patrick knows the offensive line needs to be better, specifically for Fields “because he deserves it.” In fact, Patrick hasn’t wavered in his belief that Fields can become a star in this league.

“All I know is up front, we have to do the best we can do and keep him clean because as we’ve seen multiple times, we keep him clean or we give him a rush lane to sneak out,” Patrick said, via ChicagoBears.com. “We need to live up to the standard that we have in our room and really help him become the elite player that he is. You can’t change my mind that that guy’s not a future stud in this league, like, the way he throws it, the way he’s consistent, the way he runs, just his positive personality, and like, he’s a great dude to have in the locker room and doesn’t really get down amongst us.”

The offensive line’s best game in pass protection was in a Week 5 loss to the Vikings. Fields had a mostly clean pocket and looked comfortable, confident and poised in his best game of the season. If the Bears offensive line can give him a little more time, we’ll get a look at what Fields is truly capable of.

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Report: Bears are benching Sam Mustipher vs. New England

The Bears are reportedly shuffling their offensive line ahead of this week’s matchup against the Patriots.

It appears change is finally coming to the Chicago Bears offensive line. According to ESPN 1000 and NBC Sports Chicago’s David Kaplan, the Bears are shuffling their offensive line for this week’s matchup against the New England Patriots, most notably benching center Sam Mustipher in favor of Lucas Patrick.

Kaplan reports Patrick will slide over from left guard to replace Mustipher and veteran Michael Schofield will enter the starting lineup in place of Patrick. The rest of the offensive line will remain the same, with Braxton Jones, Larry Borom, and Teven Jenkins continuing to play left tackle, right tackle, and right guard, respectively.

The change has been a long time coming for the interior of the offensive line. Mustipher took over the starting center position in training camp when Patrick was lost for an extended period of time after suffering a thumb injury. But even when Patrick returned and was deemed healthy enough to play, the Bears stuck with Mustipher, who has surrendered numerous pressures and has struggled at times with penalties and snapping the ball.

Patrick, who had been rotating at right guard with Jenkins, moved to the left side following an injury to Cody Whitehair. But given the struggles that Mustipher and the entire offensive line have had as a whole, a change needed to be made. The Bears are tied with the Washington Commanders for the league lead in sacks allowed with 23.

No official announcement has come from the team and we will likely have to wait until Monday night to get confirmation, but this change at the very least shows the Bears are doing something different that will hopefully result in cleaner pockets for Justin Fields going forward.

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Bears insider believes Lucas Patrick will replace Sam Mustipher at C

Sam Mustipher has taken every snap at center this season. But one Bears insider believes Lucas Patrick will still inevitably replace him.

Six weeks into the 2022 NFL season, the Chicago Bears are performing as many expected with a 2-4 record after dropping their latest game to the Washington Commanders. But one area that has not gone as expected is the center position on the offensive line.

Since the start of the season, Sam Mustipher has snapped every ball to quarterback Justin Fields while veteran Lucas Patrick, signed in the offseason to be the team’s center, has rotated at guard since returning from his thumb injury suffered during training camp. Mustipher has been the target of heavy criticism on the line, not only for his blocking, but his issues with snapping the ball and causing delay of game penalties. But if one Bears insider is correct, that won’t be the case for much longer.

670 The Score’s Mark Grote joined the Bear Down Chicago Podcast this week and shared his insight on what the team is doing with the fourth-year center and whether a switch will be made at the position or not.

“I don’t think they want to necessarily be in the predicament that Sam Mustipher has to continue to start at center. I think they had envisioned that by now, Lucas Patrick would be playing the part of center and you would hope you would have Cody Whitehair and Teven Jenkins and Mustipher would take a seat in that scenario.

I still think that’s coming unless they pull a fast one and think Mustipher can slide over to the guard spot. It’s going to be interesting to see how that goes. I don’t know if by the Monday night game in New England that change in the lineup can be made, but it’s going to come eventually. You will see Lucas Patrick playing center eventually.”

Mustipher has had consistently low grades at center this season and was thought to be a temporary solution at center while Patrick got himself healthy. But since Patrick returned, there’s been no indication that he will return to the center position, despite playing there all throughout offseason activities. Injuries to the guard position made things even more complicated when Whitehair landed on injured reserve two weeks ago.

But after head coach Matt Eberflus vowed to look at each position closely following Thursday’s 12-7 loss during the team’s mini bye week, changes might finally be coming sooner rather than later. If Grote is correct, it’s a matter of when and not if.

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