Six weeks into the 2022 NFL season, the Chicago Bears are performing as many expected with a 2-4 record after dropping their latest game to the Washington Commanders. But one area that has not gone as expected is the center position on the offensive line.
Since the start of the season, Sam Mustipher has snapped every ball to quarterback Justin Fields while veteran Lucas Patrick, signed in the offseason to be the team’s center, has rotated at guard since returning from his thumb injury suffered during training camp. Mustipher has been the target of heavy criticism on the line, not only for his blocking, but his issues with snapping the ball and causing delay of game penalties. But if one Bears insider is correct, that won’t be the case for much longer.
670 The Score’s Mark Grote joined the Bear Down Chicago Podcast this week and shared his insight on what the team is doing with the fourth-year center and whether a switch will be made at the position or not.
“I don’t think they want to necessarily be in the predicament that Sam Mustipher has to continue to start at center. I think they had envisioned that by now, Lucas Patrick would be playing the part of center and you would hope you would have Cody Whitehair and Teven Jenkins and Mustipher would take a seat in that scenario.
I still think that’s coming unless they pull a fast one and think Mustipher can slide over to the guard spot. It’s going to be interesting to see how that goes. I don’t know if by the Monday night game in New England that change in the lineup can be made, but it’s going to come eventually. You will see Lucas Patrick playing center eventually.”
Mustipher has had consistently low grades at center this season and was thought to be a temporary solution at center while Patrick got himself healthy. But since Patrick returned, there’s been no indication that he will return to the center position, despite playing there all throughout offseason activities. Injuries to the guard position made things even more complicated when Whitehair landed on injured reserve two weeks ago.
But after head coach Matt Eberflus vowed to look at each position closely following Thursday’s 12-7 loss during the team’s mini bye week, changes might finally be coming sooner rather than later. If Grote is correct, it’s a matter of when and not if.
