Offensive lineman Lucas Patrick appears to have made a good impression on Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus.
Patrick, who started over Teven Jenkins at right guard in Chicago’s 23-20 win over the Houston Texans on Sunday, has seen his playing time increase the last two games despite sharing a 50-50 split with Jenkins in Week 1.
While Jenkins has had better on-field results than Patrick — he’s allowed two fewer pressures and is a higher-graded run blocker, according to Pro Football Focus — Eberflus recently explained why Jenkins has seemingly fallen out of favor.
per PFF, Lucas Patrick has been the Bears' lowest-graded offensive lineman (52.1 overall grade, 42.2 in pass blocking )
— Jeremy Layton (@JeremyLayt0n) September 26, 2022
who has been their best-graded offensive lineman, you ask? why, it's Teven Jenkins* (71.7)
*tied with Cody Whitehair
"It's about practice,” Eberflus told reporters on Monday. “We evaluate practice. Wednesday is a big day for us, Thursday and Friday. We thought that Lucas did a good job of practicing. He was solid in his practice. Teven did a nice job on Thursday and Friday but needs to have a better Wednesday for him to step into that role.”
Patrick, 29, played 47% of Chicago’s offensive snaps against the San Francisco 49ers, 54% against the Green Bay Packers in Week 2, and 67% against Houston on Sunday.
Conversely, Jenkins has been on a downward trajectory, dipping from playing 53% of snaps in Week 1 to 46% in Week 2 and 35% in Week 3.
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