The Chicago Bears upset the San Francisco 49ers in a 19-10 win, where a big storyline was the performance of their rookie draft class. Fifth-round rookie Braxton Jones was among those who made his first NFL start, where he played every snap at left tackle for Chicago.
So how did the rookie think he did in his first start?
“First half, a little rocky,” Jones said, via NBC Sports Chicago. “I didn’t feel like I started slow or just in terms of my body or getting off the ball. Plays happen. You get beat. The biggest thing for me was just responding. I knew there was going to be bad plays here and there. How did I respond? Look at the film. Not dive too much into it but get enough to where I can fix it and play the next play. That was the biggest thing was just responding in that second half and coming out and pounding the rock.”
It was a rough first-half outing for Jones — and the entire offense, really — which included getting pushed around by Nick Bosa, including allowing a sack. But Jones made some improvement in the second half, which was also helped by Fields escaping the pocket and taking some pressure off the offensive line.
“I think it was just trusting my teaching and trusting my coaching,” Jones said. “That’s the biggest thing is not playing outside of myself. I got to play within my game and within what I do. That was the biggest thing was just playing a little bit more controlled.
“A couple of those plays, I tried to do a little bit too much and that’s just not me. I stay to what I do. I don’t need to go crazy out to [Bosa] or anything like that. It’s going to get you beat. If you stay nice and controlled and do what you do and just trust your teaching and your technique, that’s what I did in the second half.”
Now entering his second career NFL start, things don’t get any easier for the rookie. Next up for Jones is Packers edge rushers Rashan Gary and Preston Smith, and Jones knows he needs to improve.
“I’m on tape now,” Jones said. “I give up the bull rush. They know that. All the teams know that. I think the biggest thing, like I’ve told you, my biggest problem is the bull rush. That’s the only thing I lost to tonight. Making sure I’m doing a better job anchoring. Not playing so high and then trusting my technique.
“There were a couple other plays where I trusted it and I was a little bit more patient, and it got me a better result than flying out of there high and getting bull rushed.”
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