The Chicago Bears are in the midst of a three-game losing streak. The streak happened to come at a time when the team had a mini-bye between a Thursday night game and a Monday night game, which afforded them extra time to make any possible changes to the lineup.
One that we had suggested was making a move at the center, and apparently, the team is listening and making the move. While it is just a report, and mainly speculation, it does sound as though Lucas Patrick will start at center on Monday.
Here is what I am hearing the #Bears offensive line will look like when they start the game Monday night against the #Patriots in New England. LT: Jones LG Schofield C Patrick RG Jenkins RT Borom. Mustipher will be a backup at Guard and Center. #TakeThat
— David Kaplan (@thekapman) October 21, 2022
This should really be no surprise, when the Chicago Bears signed him they said they saw him as the center of their future. Of course, an injury to his snapping hand derailed that possibility before it ever started.
Will Chicago Bears start Lucas Patrick?
Still, Patrick has been healthy the last two weeks, but the team did not make the move. To be fair, the timing may have played into it. They are in the middle of the season, and the team had just gotten used to Sam Mustipher at center.
They could shake things up and hope it sticks on the fly, or wait until they have a longer break, and a couple of extra practice sessions to make the change. Especially with a Thursday Night Football game on the docket, it may have been tough for the team to make a drastic change at center and hope that it sticks.
Still, now they should have no choice. Mustipher was fine for the first game or so, but he is getting exposed now, and things really fell apart against the Giants. They signed Patrick to play center, and now there are no excuses, as timing, and the play of Mustipher is not legitimate anymore.
The more interesting note is Michael Schofield playing left guard with Cody Whitehair out. Fans may be okay with this move, but they have to remember that Schofield was scheduled to start, but during the preseason he looked like he was too old and slow to play in the NFL.
He struggled against Chris Jones, but also looked out of place and confused too often, and the team eventually had no choice but to bench him. So, they may have improved at center, but they still have a potential hole at left guard. The hope is that Schofield was shaking off the rust, and now he is more in line with expectations.