Tag: Sam Mustipher

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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Bears stock watch: Who’s up, who’s down following Week 5 loss vs. Vikings

Here’s a look at which Bears players are trending up or down following Sunday’s Week 5 loss against the Vikings.

The Chicago Bears were defeated by the Minnesota Vikings, 29-22, on Sunday, where they dropped to 2-3 on the season.

It was far from a demoralizing loss, especially considering how the Bears battled back from an 18-point deficit to take the lead in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, a fumble prevented Chicago from a chance at victory for the second straight week.

But there were some encouraging (and not-so-encouraging) outings coming out of this game.

Here’s a look at which Bears players are trending up or down following Sunday’s Week 5 loss against the Vikings.

Studs and duds from Bears’ Week 5 loss vs. Vikings

From Justin Fields to Ihmir Smith-Marsette, we’re taking a look at the studs and duds in the Bears’ Week 5 loss to the Vikings.

The Chicago Bears (2-3) were defeated 29-22 by the Minnesota Vikings (4-1) in Week 5, where a fumble cost them a potential victory for the second straight game.

It was an ominous start for the Bears, who were dominated in the first half against the Vikings, who carried a 21-10 lead into halftime. But Chicago battled back from an 18-point deficit to take a 22-21 lead in the fourth quarter.

Minnesota ultimately scored the game-winning touchdown in the final minutes as an Ihmir Smith-Marsette fumble cost the Bears a chance to drive down the field to tie the game and force overtime.

We’re taking a look at the studs and duds from the Bears’ Week 5 loss against the Vikings:

Bears fans have had enough of center Sam Mustipher

Bears fans are fed up with center Sam Mustipher. Here’s how Twitter is reacting to his continued struggles.

It’s been an ugly start for the Chicago Bears in their Week 5 matchup against the Minnesota Vikings. That includes starting center Sam Mustipher, who committed a costly mistake on Chicago’s second drive of the game.

With the Bears starting on their own 14-yard line, quarterback Justin Fields went to audible to change the play, and Mustipher snapped the ball. Luckily, Fields recovered the fumble. But it halted the drive before it could even start. Chicago went three-and-out and punted right back to Minnesota, who drove 71 yards for their third touchdown of the first half.

Mustipher has struggled all season, dating back to last year, in fact. Last week against the New York Giants, Mustipher struggled in pass protection, which included notching a lovely 1.5 pass protection grade from Pro Football Focus.

As you can imagine, Bears fans are fed up with Mustipher and are clamoring for Lucas Patrick to take over. Patrick was brought in to be the team’s starting center, but he’s been slowly eased back as he recovers from a broken thumb. But even a less-than-100-percent Patrick has to be better than Mustipher at this point, right?

Here’s what Bears fans are saying about Mustipher’s continued struggles:

5 Bold predictions for Bears’ Week 5 divisional game vs. Vikings

From a heavy dose of the running game to a strong rebound from Velus Jones Jr., here are our bold predictions for Bears vs. Vikings.

The Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings renew their divisional rivalry this weekend in Minneapolis. The Bears are coming off a dismal 20-12 loss against the New York Giants that dropped them to .500 and are looking for an offensive breakout to try and avoid having a losing record for the first time this season. The Vikings, meanwhile, are tied for the division lead at 3-1 and are coming off a nail-biting victory over the New Orleans Saints in London just one week ago. They will try and be rested enough to secure the win and keep their lead alive.

It’s going to be a tough game for the Bears but we’ve seen weird things happen in this series over the years that could turn the tide quickly. Here are our bold predictions ahead of Bears and Vikings.

NFL analyst: ‘There’s no cure’ for Bears pass blocking woes

Trent Dilfer has a stern warning for Bears fans when it comes to the offensive line

It was a bad day for the Chicago Bears offensive line on Sunday against the New York Giants and if one NFL analyst is correct, things aren’t going to get better as the year goes on.

The Bears lost to the Giants 20-12 and the biggest gripe from the game was the offensive line’s inability to protect quarterback Justin Fields. As a whole, the line surrendered six sacks and 15 pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. A poor performance was made worse when guard Cody Whitehair left the game due to a knee injury that will likely sideline him for multiple weeks.

At full strength, the line had plenty of deficiencies. Now without one of their captains, things look grim with no end in sight, according to NFL analyst Trent Dilfer.

Dilfer, a former Super Bowl-winning quarterback and longtime NFL analyst joined 670 The Score’s Parkins and Spiegel Show on Monday to discuss the Bears offensive woes. Dilfer was complimentary of Fields’ performance and encouraged by the steps he took, but had a stern warning for the rest of the season when it comes to the offensive line and their pass blocking woes. “They’re going to really struggle in pass protection. There’s no fixing it. Just so you know, there’s no cure to this.” Dilfer said.

The former quarterback did detail how the Bears can limit the damage, however when it comes to obvious passing downs. “You can get better and put in pass protection schemes that are more full slides, more full gaps, covering up the inside players.” Dilfer explained. “But the center and right guard are going to get picked on. The center is getting destroyed and it’s going to happen the rest of the year.”

The center Dilfer is referencing is Sam Mustipher, who has struggled all season long in pass protection. On Sunday, Mustipher allowed six of the 15 pressures himself and graded out with a lousy 1.5 pass blocking grade on Pro Football Focus.

A change should be made at the position with someone like Lucas Patrick, who was signed in the offseason to play the position but missed all of camp with a thumb injury. Mustipher filled in and the coaches were reluctant to demote him and had Patrick play right guard instead. Now with Whitehair getting hurt, Patrick will fill in at left guard, leaving Mustipher as the struggling starting center for the foreseeable future.

With this current line combination, Bears fans might need to accept that Fields is going to be running for his life seemingly every week moving forward. It’s not exactly the ideal situation for a second-year quarterback who still needs developing.

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7 Takeaways from the Bears’ sluggish loss to the Giants

From Justin Fields’ improvement to Luke Getsy’s situational playcalling issues, here are our takeaways from the Bears loss to the Giants.

The Chicago Bears traveled across the country to take on the New York Giants and the only points they scored were from a guy they signed off the street on Saturday as they lost 20-12. Kicker Michael Badgley, playing in place of Cairo Santos who missed the game due to personal reasons, accounted for all 12 points of the day with the Bears offense unable to find the endzone for the first time all year.

It was a lackluster performance for all phases. The offense struggled to stop the Giants pass rush, the defense couldn’t stop anyone running the ball, and a special teams blunder eliminated any hope of a comeback late in the game.

Despite playing the NFC East version of themselves, the Bears were outcoached and fall to 2-2 on the year. Here are our takeaways from the game.

7 Takeaways from Bears’ narrow victory over the Texans

From Justin Fields’ regression to Roquan’s big bounce back, here are our takeaways from the Bears’ victory over the Texans.

Contrary to popular belief given the panic amongst fans, the Chicago Bears found themselves with a victory on Sunday, defeating the Houston Texans 23-20 on a last-second field goal by Cairo Santos to improve to 2-1 on the season. Thanks to a devastating ground attack led by Khalil Herbert, Chicago did just enough to squeak by the winless Texans and defeat former head coach Lovie Smith for the third time since he was let go 10 years ago.

The victory felt hollow, however, as the Bears passing offense continued to sputter with just 82 net yards and questions surrounding Justin Fields’ ability to succeed grew louder and louder. The same could be said for a number of Bears defensive players as well, though they clamped down on the Texans offense and made clutch plays to give the offense a fighting chance late in the game.

It was a weird game, with many writing off Fields and ignoring the victory while others continue to preach patience for his development during their celebration of the win. Want to know where we stand? Here are our takeaway’s from Sunday’s win over the Texans.

Bears looking at two different offensive line combinations with Lucas Patrick

The Bears are looking at different offensive line combinations with Lucas Patrick, which depends on whether or not he can snap the ball.

The Chicago Bears received some good news on the injury front with the return of offensive lineman Lucas Patrick to practice on Monday.

Patrick hasn’t practiced since July 28 after injuring his right hand in the second practice of training camp. According to reports, Patrick suffered a broken right thumb that required surgery. So there are questions about whether he’ll be able to snap the ball.

But it sounds like the Bears have a solution should that arise.

Head coach Matt Eberflus said Patrick is an option at both center and guard, and the team is looking at combinations with him both at center and guard.

“We’re looking at both combinations right now,” Eberflus said. “We’ll have to see where he is and we’ll assess that as we go. It’ll be a Wednesday, Thursday assessment and then go from there.”

If Patrick is able to snap the ball, the offensive line combination would look like this: LT Braxton Jones, LG Cody Whitehair, C Lucas Patrick, RG Teven Jenkins, RT Larry Borom.

But if Patrick is unable to snap the ball, that would leave Jenkins, who has carved out a nice role for himself at right guard, as the odd man out. At least for the time being before Patrick can kick back inside to center. Sam Mustipher would then assume the job of center, where he started all 17 games last season.

We won’t know anything until the first injury report is released Wednesday, which is when Eberflus said he’d start discussing injuries.

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10 Bears players to watch vs. Seahawks

Here are 10 Bears players to keep an eye on throughout the game Thursday evening against the Seattle Seahawks.

It’s only the middle of August but it feels like the grind of the regular season for the Chicago Bears given the NFL’s unique preseason scheduling. The Bears are playing on the west coast on a short week, taking on the Seattle Seahawks in a primetime matchup for their second preseason game.

The game will likely feature most of the team’s reserves, with most starters only getting around 6-10 plays, according to head coach Matt Eberflus. Still, it’s a great opportunity to watch players who are looking to either continue their strong preseason campaigns, or others who are trying to get one started.

Here are 10 Bears players to keep an eye on throughout the game on Thursday evening.