Chicago Bears making right decision with Alex Leatherwood

Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus announced that Riley Reiff and Alex Leatherwood will be rotating against the Philadelphia Eagles this Sunday.

And it’s the right call.

The Chicago Bears are making the right decision, rotating Reiff and Leatherwood

Now, if this game was against most likely any of the other NFL teams, the reaction would be different.

But against one of the NFL’s best defensive fronts, having Alex Leatherwood start this game could be detrimental to his confidence moving forward.

At the end of the day, these are people playing the game. People with emotions, self esteems, and everything in between.

Now, since the Chicago Bears are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, the rest of this season should be focused on setting the Bears up for next season.

With over $100 million in cap space next season, there’s been more focus on “next season” than most years, but with Justin Fields breaking out into a superstar with the ball in his hands, it’s the right call.

With Riley Reiff on a one-year deal and Alex Leatherwood signed up until 2024, there’s a belief that Leatherwood should be starting for the rest of the season.

And while the logic is there, one crucial piece of that equation holds a lot of weight, and that’s who the Bears playing this week.

Had the Chicago Bears not had the league’s best defensive front to deal with this week with an already weak offensive line, it’d make sense to give Alex Leatherwood all the reps.

But the goal for the rest of the season isn’t just to focus on evaluating Alex Leatherwood.

There are a lot of other positions on this roster that need to be evaluated, and if Leatherwood is getting blown up by the Eagles’ defense all game, none of that other evaluation can be done.

That being said, once the Chicago Bears move on from the Philadelphia Eagles, Leatherwood should be starting the rest of the season or at least a majority of it.