How regained trust has Braxton Jones ahead in the Chicago Bears left tackle battle
Why the Bears are developing a championship mindset | Chicago Sports Tonight
Cassie Carlson & The Athletic's Dan Wiederer recap Day 2 of Bears minicamp from Halas Hall. Why do players feel like the intensity will ramp up even more when training camp starts next month, and how is the team developing a championship mindset? Also, what leadership and intangible impact has Coby Bryant brought to the defense so far? Plus, is the left tackle competition Braxton Jones' job to lose?
What a difference a year makes.
In the 2025 offseason, the Chicago Bears were looking for a starting left tackle. They had three candidates: Braxton Jones, Ozzy Trapilo and Kiran Amegadie.
In 2026, the Bears will have a similar battle. The Bears will sort between Jones, Amegadije, Theo Benedet and Jedrick Wills Jr. to find their starting left tackle.
Bears head coach Ben Johnson was clear when he said the coaches won’t award starting spots in minicamp.
But, when minicamp concludes, it’s hard not to see that Jones will enter training camp at the top of the left tackle leaderboard. He got there by regaining the one biggest part of his game he lost.
"The procedures I've had is fine and everything's good, everything's strong, and that's really what it is," Jones said on Wednesday. "Continue to put myself in those great positions and trusting myself in those great positions."
The backstory:
Jones won the starting left tackle job going into Week 1 in the 2025 season. He lost it during a Week 4 win over the Raiders and never got a chance to win it back.
Benedet held the job until an injury forced him out of the lineup. Rookie Ozzy Trapilo moved from right tackle to left tackle and held the job until a torn patellar tendon forced him out in the playoffs. That injury will keep Trapilo out until late in the 2026 season.
That brings us to the present day.
Jones was an unrestricted free agent. He could have signed anywhere in the league. He inked a one-year deal with the Bears worth up to $10 million.
"Shoot, there were a lot of conversation here and there," Jones said. "Obviously was trying to get back to a place where I had an opportunity to start and show my talent."
That’s exactly what the Bears are offering him.
"He’s a lot more comfortable with what's being asked of him," Johnson said. "Hopefully, the game continues to slow down."
The game has slown down because Jones has regained trust.
Not in his coaches. Not in his teammates. Jones has regained trust in himself. He lost it last year when he was recovering from a broken ankle.
"Even last year I was still in a good place, but I just didn't trust it," Jones said. "I didn't trust the positions I was putting myself in. And when you don't trust that you're never going to put a good outcome out there."
Bears offensive line coach Dan Roushar said multiple times during the 2025 season Jones was working on the mental side of the game. It’s what Jones never connected in 2025.
In 2026, he’s found it again. A big part of it is just entering an offseason with a clean bill of health.
Jones credited his work with five-time NFL Pro Bowler Terron Armstead, who helped him regain that trust in himself and his body.
That’s led him to an offseason where he can focus solely on football and not any recovery.
"This was the first one since, I think my second or rookie year where truly getting that full offseason, not dealing with anything after," Jones said. "Being able to go out there and just rep it over and over again and have such a great coach like Dan, who is just on me about the small details. It's unbelievable and I'm just blessed to be out there and be able to do OTAs and stuff."
What's next:
The Bears have been moving plenty of players around in OTAs and in minicamp. Jones has not been one of those players.
Benedet has been practicing with the second-team offense, both at right and left tackle. When Benedet is at right tackle, Amegadije has been with the second-team offense at left tackle. Wills has been with the third-team offense mainly.
Jones has been with the first-team offense at left tackle for the open practices the media have been able to view. There’s no change there.
He also has a perspective not many offensive tackles in the league have in recovering from a traumatic injury, having been benched before the getting another shot at a starting job.
"It kind of punched me in the face a little bit too," Jones said of his benching. "It made me wake up a little bit. Like I’ve genuinely got to do a lot of things to get better. Especially with the injury I was coming back from. I'm blessed to have that situation and be able to look at it in a more positive light coming out of it."
Jones will bring that perspective to training camp.
While Jones won’t say the job is his to lose, he’ll enter training camp as the tackle to beat in the 2026 left tackle race.