Why Bears GM Ryan Poles Has Been ‘Blown Away’ by Braxton Jones – newsdubai

When Ryan Poles selected Braxton Jones in the fifth round of this year’s NFL Draft, the thought was that he could one day compete for a starting tackle job. As it turned out, that day came about halfway through OTAs when Jones lined up with the 1s at left tackle. Jones has locked down the starting job, surprising not only the Bears, but Jones himself.

“I’ve been blown away by how quickly he’s developed,” Poles said. “A lot of credit to our coaches and Chris Morgan, they’ve done an outstanding job. He keeps checking the boxes. You go from OTAs, ‘That guy looks pretty good.’ We’re going to training camp, we have to put pads on. We put pads on and still do pretty well. Let’s see when the lights come on and we go to preseason, is he going to do it? The longer you do this you see these spikes and then he left? He continues to climb and get better and better and better.”

Jones is far from a finished product, but he is much improved from the early days of the summer. Jones has cleaned up pre-snap penalties that plagued him in OTAs. He gets bullied less in pass protection and even holds his own against Robert Quinn in practice. As Week 1 approaches, Jones is no longer surprised he’s playing with the starters, but he still appreciates what’s in front of him.

“I just have to get better every day and continue to do my job and not let this opportunity go to waste,” Jones said. “I think that’s the biggest thing. It’s a great opportunity to show what I can do. So I have to continue to take the chance and not really worry about being surprised.”

So far, Jones has met his challenges and performed admirably, but his biggest test still lies ahead.

“Week 1, he’s going to see a big dog,” Poles said of 49ers pass rusher Nick Bosa. “I also told him there will be ups and downs and I think part of being a really good player is the short memory. How can you overcome some of the bad games? That will be the next step for him and just watching the best rushers in this league, it’s no joke. A lot of guys struggle with them, but can you fight, can you fight and have the short memory when things go bad and do you have the toughness to stay in there?

“I’m excited for him and I’m excited for what he’s become. He hasn’t given up that spot and he just keeps fighting and fighting and fighting. I’m proud of that kid.”

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