The player with arguably the most to prove on the Chicago Bears roster heading into the 2026 season is former fifth-round offensive tackle Braxton Jones, who re-signed with the team on a one-year deal after a disappointing season.

Jones is in the mix for the starting left tackle position and hoping to regain the job after starting 44 games at that spot in Chicago throughout his first four seasons.

However, Jones’ career hit a snag late in the 2024 season when he suffered a fractured fibula. The injury forced him to miss the majority of the offseason last year under a new offensive staff led by head coach Ben Johnson. While Jones returned in time to start Week 1, it’s clear he didn’t look like the same player, forcing the staff to make a change and not turn back the rest of the season.

Jones now gets a second chance to prove himself to the staff and it’s becoming more clear that Johnson and the Bears should expect to see a much improved player, both physically and mentally.

Terron Armstead shares more insight on Chicago Bears OT Braxton Jones’ offseason growth

“I’m excited about Braxton. His confidence is growing daily. Super talented, very strong, physical, smart, tough, all of the things,” former Pro Bowl offensive tackle Terron Armstead said, via FOX 32 Chicago. “His issue has been durability, it’s been injury. We all have those challenges throughout our career, I probably was the most injured player ever. It’s a part of the game and it’s hard to get through. It’s a lot of mental adversity that you got to battle through. . .

“What I’ve seen from Braxton – and what I know of Braxton moving forward – is this is a person that is sure of himself now. He knows that he has the ability to go out and execute at a high level. Braxton’s done the work. He’s done the work and he really wants to prove his work to himself. Not the masses, not the fans, or the media. To prove to himself that he can play this game at the highest level. He’s really starting to believe that and that’s where it has to start.”

Armstead has been a big supporter of Jones all offseason long after training with him during the dead period. When the Bears decided to re-sign Jones, Johnson even noted how ‘yoked up’ Jones looked coming back to the facility to sign his contract.

All signs point toward the Bears getting a brand new version of Jones that’s full of internal confidence and that’s going to go a long way on the field. If the Bears can get high level play out of him again and on a consistent basis, the confidence will be really high about the entire offensive line despite all of the changes the group was forced to deal with. But, he’s got to earn it first.

Once OTAs start, Jones will start competing for the left tackle job along with Jedrick Wills Jr. and Theo Benedet, who have also been working with Armstead this offseason.

“Dan Roushar connected us, he felt like I would be a benefit to those guys,” Armstead added. “Been working with him, Theo Benedet as well, Jed as well. So, it’s been great.”

At this point, it’s clear the Bears plan to enter the season with these three players being the options at left tackle. All three have their individual flaws they’re looking to overcome, which will make this a more exciting battle to watch unfold.