7 Chicago Bears players with something to prove over the last 7 games

Braxton Jones

Jones played great against the Panthers. Like Fields, he needs to show more of what he produced on Thursday if he wants to stay the starting left tackle.

He went from being durable after he played every snap last season to missing some time this year with a neck injury.

Plus, he is a former fifth-round pick who struggled last season against the bull rush–the most basic pass-rushing technique there is.

If he can continue to grade out as he did against Carolina, then he might be able to lockdown being the franchise’s left tackle for years to come.

Darnell Mooney

Mooney has only produced 321 yards and a touchdown on 321 yards. His numbers are down due to still recovering from a season-ending injury last year and the presence of D.J. Moore.

Plus, Cole Kmet continues to emerge as the preferred second target of Fields and Bagent.

He has shown more burst recently and had his best game last week against the New Orleans Saints.

He is set to be a free agent after the season so, Mooney needs to produce like he did in his first two seasons if he hopes to get re-signed by the Chicago Bears (or get a multi-year deal somewhere else).

Yannick Ngakoue

The Chicago Bears brought Yannick in during training camp to provide a pass rush. He registered a sack against the Panthers, but it was only his third on the season.

His inability to get the quarterback to the ground or generate a consistent rush forced general manager Ryan Poles to trade for Montez Sweat at the deadline.

Sweat’s presence should help Ngakoue with more one-on-one matchups. It would be nice to see him register more sacks. If he can do that, he might be worthy of getting another contract with the Chicago Bears.

The main reason for that is Poles acquired Sweat because the team is reported to not be high on next year’s edge rushing draft prospects.

Ngakoue is still only 27 so it would be nice to have Sweat and him harassing the QB, but only if Yannick can produce.