CHICAGO (AP) — Braxton Jones was surrounded by his teammates as he was loaded into a cart. He gave a thumbs-up as he was driven off the field, and the Soldier Field crowd cheered.
It was another tough moment for Chicago's offensive line — and the rest of the Bears.
The protection for Caleb Williams took a big hit when Jones and Teven Jenkins departed in the first half of Sunday's 34-17 loss to the Detroit Lions. The rookie quarterback still managed to throw for 334 yards and two touchdowns, but he was sacked twice as he tried to rally Chicago in the second half.
Jenkins and Jones were questionable going into the matchup with the NFC North leaders. Jenkins had a calf injury and Jones missed Monday night’s 30-12 loss at Minnesota because of a concussion.
“It's never the ideal situation, but I mean they had a ton of injuries, too,” Bears tight end Cole Kmet said, “and they seemed to figure it out. So we got to be able to figure that out, adapt, and that's part of being in the NFL.”
The Bears also had two more offensive linemen on their inactive list — a day after they placed backup guard Ryan Bates on injured reserve. Center Doug Kramer was sidelined by a shoulder injury. Kiran Amegadjie, a third-round pick in this year's draft out of Yale, was a healthy scratch after he stepped in for Jones as the starting left tackle against the Vikings.
“We're all professionals. We're all adults. It's not a personal thing. I don't take it as such,” Amegadjie said.
Chicago dropped to 4-11 with its ninth consecutive loss. Williams has been sacked an NFL-high 60 times this season, but he sounded determined to continue his development on the field rather than take any protective rest during the final two games.
The No. 1 overall pick in the draft was 26-for-40 passing against Detroit, and he also had six carries for a team-high 34 yards rushing.
“Every snap is valuable,” Williams said. “There’s so many different situations that happen throughout games that you can learn from and that I’ve learned from this year.”
Shortly after Jenkins left with a calf injury, Jones was blocking on a fourth-down pass play when Detroit defensive lineman Levi Onwuzurike fell on his right leg. Jones' left leg got caught underneath him as he went down.
The 25-year-old Jones immediately grabbed his lower left leg as he lay on the ground. He was fitted with an air cast before he was driven to the back. The team said he had an ankle injury.
“I told Braxton I love him and all of that,” Williams said. “Teven was still able to walk around, but dealing with his injury. You know, it’s tough. ... It’s probably the worst part about football is the injuries and your big players going down. But it is a part of football. And we’ve got to find ways as a team to have that next guy up and go in and execute, do the right thing.”
Trailing 34-17 early in the fourth quarter, Williams helped move Chicago to the Detroit 22. But the drive stalled after he was sacked by Al-Quadin Muhammad for a 9-yard loss. Williams also was sacked on the team's final possession.
“I think we were solid overall for the most part," interim coach Thomas Brown said of Chicago's offensive line. "Still got to be better. Got to find better ways to get in the flow of the game and alleviate some pressure off of them. But obviously being down multiple scores kind of just dictates the flow of the game at times and trying to get back in it.”
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