Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show
Is Braxton Jones the answer to the Bears' left tackle problem? (Hour 2)
16 Apr 2026
Chapter 1: Is Braxton Jones the solution to the Bears' left tackle issue?
No, it is real. He's not quite ready yet. He's not full tilt quite yet. Braxton isn't. But hopefully we'll get him back out there and get him up to speed again to where he feels like he's football conditioned and we'll be good to go. But the two other guys that are getting the majority of the rep, I mean, I've been very impressed so far. They've taken some lumps.
We've got a really good defensive line that's out there competing and getting after us and making us better. But those two guys are growing every single day.
Ben Johnson talking about the amazing defensive line.
Chapter 2: What are the challenges Braxton Jones faces in his recovery?
See, why are you doing this? Because he said it himself. He's like, we have a really good defensive line here testing our guys. Do you? Did you? I don't know. Anyway, he, of course, was talking about the left tackle position for the Chicago Bears. And speaking about Braxton Jones specifically. And then, of course, the competition that was at the beginning of training camp.
It's Gabe Ramirez, Marshall Harris, Raheem Harris, and Grody right here on 104.3 The Score.
Chapter 3: How do the Bears' offensive line dynamics affect Braxton Jones?
Marshall, you said you're cheering for one guy loudly.
And I want to take people through how this got in my mind. Yesterday, Mark Grody and I were talking about The draft and mock drafts that are coming out. And Dane Brugler, who authors The Beast for The Athletic, does all the players. And he did one specifically for the Bears, like the players they would put. You know what was not selected? Tackle.
There was not an offensive tackle in his mock draft. And I started thinking about what they have as their options today.
Chapter 4: What insights does Ben Johnson provide about the left tackle position?
with the knowledge that Ozzie Trapillo is not going to be ready to play anytime soon. He definitely won't be ready to go before maybe the back half of the season, if he plays at all in 2026. And one name keeps coming back and back in my head because of what we know about what he was dealing with last year. Braxton Jones at left tackle. He has played there before.
And Ben Johnson certainly did not sound like he was a fan of anybody at left tackle at the start of last season anyway. It was just like, we're going to go with what we're going to go with. And we'll figure it out down the road before Trapello, of course, took over before getting hurt at the end of last season.
But Braxton Jones took me back to last July because he had ankle surgery after a really complex break of his ankle. And I understood that, okay, he's not at full strength.
Chapter 5: What are the implications of the Bears not drafting a left tackle?
Maybe he has a chance to be the guy that Ben Johnson and Dan Rochard, the offensive line coach, chose. Believe can play left tackle and be a part of this team going forward. There's a reason they signed him. You could say it was just for depth, or you could say he's a viable candidate for the starting left tackle position. I don't know what the answer is now.
I don't know that they know what the answer is right now. He's just someone that they have as an option. But this will be a different season in which he's not coming off an ankle surgery, in which he should be full strength and work his way back.
And if you go back to last July when Mark Grody caught up with him and talked to him about this, you can understand why he really didn't have a shot to be the starting left tackle last year.
It's just the nature of the game.
Chapter 6: How does Braxton Jones's past performance influence his future?
I can't take it to heart. All it is for me is I've got to go out there and work harder. More than anything, it's just show myself. Show myself clarity. Show myself what I need to do to improve. To be honest,
I don't want to look too hard on it or give myself too much of a gap to close or whatever, but eight months ago, I did severely break my ankle, and so I'm still working, and I'm doing a lot of things for myself, trying to show myself, and then obviously showing myself more than anything is going to allow these coaches to see. At the end of the day, when he says things like that, it's totally...
You know, totally fine. Obviously, if you are a competitor, it fires a little bit in you, and that's completely fine.
Chapter 7: What is the outlook for the Bulls under Billy Donovan?
I love it, and I think it just brings a better competitive nature for sure.
So the injury thing, which you brought up, obviously. So relative to that, do you feel like you're where you should be because of that? Is that partly what you're saying?
Personally, I think I'm way ahead of... Just the progression of how it went for me personally and just the mental battle it was. Like I said, I don't want to be too down on it or anything like that, but the mental battle was huge for me. To be where I'm at, back on the field, putting good reps out there, good film out there still, at least being critical of myself too.
I need to clean up some things, but just still working on that and getting back is, for me, myself, and what I've done, it's unbelievable.
Braxton Jones talking with Mark Grody right there.
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Chapter 8: How are the Bulls preparing for the upcoming draft?
And you do feel bad for him when you hear that. I think that was your biggest takeaway, I would assume.
I love when an athlete, one, is on the comeback trail. And I love more when he's on the comeback trail and instead of being defensive about whatever process is taking place for him to get back where he wants to be, where he needs to be, where he would like to be. I like when that story is told in a way that we can understand, and you're not getting defensive about it.
Because this is a guy who was, at one point, starting games at left tackle in the NFL.
A lot of games.
And you go back to last season, and whether it was Ozzie Trapillo or Theo Benedet... Before him, who's still on the roster, and now they brought in Jedrick Wills Jr. as a viable candidate. Don't forget your boy, Karan Amagazi. I'd rather do that. High draft pick. Third rounder. Third rounder by your boy, Ryan Poles. And so, no, what I'm saying is... That's him letting us know, hey, I'm hurt.
I'm trying. I'm giving myself a little bit of grace. I'm not necessarily even asking you to give me grace. I'm just asking you to understand where we are in this process.
And the fact that he lets you know I had a serious ankle injury.
The way he said it, right?
Yeah, he's like, I'm serious. And what's funny is that right around this time, I remember standing next to Braxton Jones. Shameless plug, April 25th is Chicago Sports Night at the Chicago Fire Games. So what they do is they bring in athletes from different teams and they have them show up to the game. Well, last year, Braxton Jones was a part of it. They had a couple of Bears players there.
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