If you made a list before the season of players the Chicago Bears could least afford to lose, nose tackle Andrew Billings might have ranked in the top three. He surely would have belonged in the top five.

Perhaps that sounds askew, but the Bears are about to find out what life will be like without Billings, who’s headed for surgery to repair a torn pectoral muscle that almost certainly will knock him out for the remainder of the season.

Billings is the team’s best interior lineman versus the run and proved to have a little more juice as a pass rusher than maybe expected. And the main reason he’s so indispensable is the Bears don’t have a proven option to replace the 6-foot-1, 311-pounder.

“It’s very significant,” middle linebacker Tremaine Edmunds said. “What he could do in the run game. What he could do in the pass game. His disruption out there, obviously, his presence was always felt. It’s going to be tough. Definitely miss him out there for sure.”

Losing Billings isn’t the only issue in the trenches the team is sorting through. The Bears practiced Wednesday without starting offensive tackles Braxton Jones and Darnell Wright, both working their way back from knee sprains.

Jones missed the 29-9 loss Sunday in Arizona, and Wright was knocked out in the second half. It’s too early in the week to speculate on the availability of either player for Sunday’s meeting with the New England Patriots (2-7) at Soldier Field.

“Hopefully we’ll get at least one of those guys (back),” coach Matt Eberflus said.

Larry Borom replaced Jones at left tackle against the Cardinals, and protection was OK through the first half until the Cardinals seemed to solve the Bears’ protection plan. Then Wright went out. His fill-in, Jake Curhan, struggled badly, and the team likely will require a new Plan B this week.

The Patriots are 29th in the NFL with 16 sacks and have only two in their last three games. But the Cardinals weren’t pressuring quarterbacks with any consistency, and they sacked Caleb Williams six times and had 12 QB hits.

Having dropped two consecutive road games coming out of the bye week to fall to 4-4, the Bears have a lot of noise around them right now, and attrition won’t make the challenges ahead any easier. They begin NFC North play after facing the Patriots.

Billings, who signed a two-year, $8.5 million extension last November, can’t be judged by statistics. While he had only 13 tackles, one sack and three QB hits while playing 60% of the defensive snaps this season, his value is in consistently taking on double-team blocks and allowing linebackers and others to flow to the ball.

“We’re going to miss a leader, a person that we knew exactly what we were going to get from him,” fellow defensive tackle Gervon Dexter said. “Just his presence alone was a lot. Sometimes when stuff wasn’t going well, Billings would be that spark we needed.”

His absence has to heighten concern for Eberflus, defensive coordinator Eric Washington and defensive line coach Travis Smith. The run defense has dipped considerably from last season. The Cardinals rushed for 213 yards, the most the Bears have allowed this year, a week after the Washington Commanders had 168.

The Bears rank 20th in the league, allowing 131.6 rushing yards per game — 45 more than a year ago, when they were tops in the NFL in defending the run. There’s no simple explanation for the dip, although one factor is the Bears were able to pair Billings next to Justin Jones much of last season. While they played Jones as a three-technique, it was like having two nose tackles on the field.

Jones departed via free agency, and Billings’ absence will create opportunities for Byron Cowart and Zacch Pickens while possibly necessitating a roster move. The Patriots rushing offense is 24th in the league, one spot below the Bears, averaging 111 yards. They rolled up 355 yards on the ground in the first two weeks and have averaged only 92 over their last seven games.

Defensive end Montez Sweat (shin) was limited in practice after missing the Arizona game and should be on track to play. Nickel cornerback Kyler Gordon (hamstring) also was limited and barring a setback could return after missing the previous two games, while strong safety Jaquan Brisker (concussion) is expected to miss his fourth consecutive game.

The areas of primary focus should be in the trenches.

The Bears need a plan at offensive tackle and could find out how tough it will be to replace Billings. He plays an undervalued position, and anchors in the middle of the defensive line can be difficult to locate. That’s why the Bears moved quickly last fall to extend Billings after discovering what a good addition he was.