Bears continue to rely on offensive line depth

The Bears leaned on their offensive line depth last weekend against the Commanders and may have to do so again on Sunday when they visit the Cardinals.

With several linemen affected by injuries, the Bears conducted a walk-through on Wednesday in lieu of a regular practice session at Halas Hall.

If they had held a typical practice, tackles Braxton Jones (knee) and Kiran Amegadjie (calf) would not have been able to practice, and left guard Teven Jenkins (knee) would have been limited. All three were injured against Washington.

Jones left in favor of Amegadjie, while Bill Murray was called up at left guard after Jenkins was injured. But Murray then suffered a season-ending pectoral injury and was replaced by Doug Kramer Jr.

“Kiran had the calf,” coach Matt Eberflus said. “It doesn’t look like he’s going to be able to come back with that. And Braxton Jones’ knee, we’ll see where that goes. It’s something he’s working through, and we’ll see where that is.”

Tackle Larry Borom reportedly practiced without restrictions on Wednesday. The 2021 fifth-round pick returned to practice last Wednesday for the first time since hurting his ankle in the preseason finale against the Chiefs, beginning a 21-day period to move him from injured reserve to the active roster to move.

On Wednesday, guard/center Ryan Bates returned to practice for the first time since suffering his shoulder injury in the season opener against the Titans, opening the 21-day window to reinstate him to the 53-man roster.

If everyone is healthy enough to play Sunday in Arizona, Eberflus said the Bears would stick with the same starting five they’ve used in each of the past five games — with Jones at left tackle, Jenkins at left guard, Coleman Shelton at center. , Matt Pryor at right guard and Darnell Wright at right tackle.

Despite multiple linemen dropping in and out of last Sunday’s game due to injuries, the Bears rushed for a season-high 196 yards against the Commanders.

“We’ll stick with the guys who have been there,” Eberflus said. “They’ve done a good job. We’ve done a good job of running the ball. We’ll see where that goes. We don’t really have the answers for that, but really good work from the O-line and the offensive staff is training Cross-training those guys, like you saw in the last game, and being able to plug and play those guys as we go through that.”