The film confirms how bad Braxton Jones was vs Commanders
Braxton Jones needs to play better or move over for a veteran
Now let’s get into the dirt and talk about how many ugly plays Braxton Jones had vs the Commanders. I gave Jones four double negative or ugly plays. He either gave up a sack or he was beaten so badly that Justin Fields felt the pressure and it led to a broken play. Honestly, even if Fields performs well by scrambling, Jones can still have an ugly play. This happened as well.
If we just use the eye test since I didn’t look into Jones’ performance in prior weeks, we can see that this was easily Jones’ worst game. Montez Sweat had his way with Jones way too often. The problem is, the Chicago Bears need to keep playing him due to a lack of talent on the rest of the line. Plus, if Jones works out, this experience he’s receiving is extremely valuable.
Braxton Jones struggled the most when he was being bull-rushed. However, there were times when the defender was able to quickly get inside of Jones and dip his shoulder to push through quickly on the inside. Even when I gave Jones a few “wins” and he received a neutral grade, it was because the defender bent on the outside and Jones correctly pushed him wide as he crashed in on the pocket. Jones didn’t give up the pocket, but it affected Justin Fields’ internal clock.
When Fields cannot trust even one-half of the line, it makes him scramble sooner than he should have. In a recent press conference, he talked about having to find ways to reset his internal clock during a game. That’s much easier said than done.
When assigning Braxton Jones a grade for this game, it matches what I saw. Due to so many negative plays and not enough positive ones, Jones finishes with a grade unworthy of a starter.