Chicago Bears center Hroniss Grasu is indeed lost for the season.
The team confirmed Monday that Grasu suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, an injury that occurred during the team's Family Fest practice at Soldier Field on Saturday.
At Monday morning's practice, veteran Ted Larsen replaced Grasu as the first-string center.
Grasu, in his second season, had been pushing to lock down a starting job and had shown signs of growth during the first week and a half of training camp.
"That was a tough one," quarterback Jay Cutler said after Monday's practice. "I've played with a lot of guys, and he's one of my favorites, even in a short amount of time. I had a hard time with that one yesterday, getting over that. I think guys are probably still feeling the effects a little bit today.
"He's so selfless. He's everything you talk about when you talk about a team guy. Kind of the core of the offensive line. I dealt with him on a day-to-day basis. He worked so hard to get to this point, and you're expecting great things from him. Then, unfortunately, things like this happen. We've got to move on. He's still going to be around, I'm sure, and be part of the team, but we've got to find somebody to fill his shoes."
Grasu's absence leaves the Bears to shuffle their offensive line plans as they head toward Thursday night's exhibition opener against the Denver Broncos.
The Bears have opted to insert Larsen, who had been playing mostly guard, rather than slide rookie left guard Cody Whitehair over. Larsen has 10 career starts at center, none after 2013.
"He's a pro," Cutler said. "He stepped in today ... and we didn't miss a beat. We're going to be fine there. I just haven't taken a lot of snaps from him, so that's just getting a feel for the tempo I like to go at and my verbiage, but we'll get that. We have plenty of time."
