The Chicago Bears offensive line has dealt with injuries this summer, but none as devastating as the loss of left guard Teven Jenkins, who landed on injured reserve and will be out for at least a month.
With Jenkins sidelined, the Bears have to do some shifting along the offensive line to plug that left guard hole.
Nate Davis figures to remain at right guard, while there could be some shifting with Cody Whitehair to make room for Lucas Patrick. Newcomer Dan Feeney, acquired in a trade with the Miami Dolphins, and second-year pro Ja’Tyre Carter could also factor into the equation. Simply put, the Bears have plenty of options.
“We’re going to let it play out throughout the course of this week coming up,” head coach Matt Eberflus said earlier this week. “We’ll see where it goes. We have options. What’s great is that if something happens during a game, you can slide in and move out and vice versa. That’s what the injury situation in training camp afforded us to do, and we feel very comfortable about that.
“Now you don’t like it during the time—you’re like ‘oh my gosh, we don’t have the starters in there, what’s going on this and that,’—but the whole time you’re getting experience. Now during the course of the year when you have to do that, you’re going to feel pretty comfortable doing that.”
While it’s certainly not definitive, reporters caught a glimpse of what the offensive line looked like without Jenkins — with Whitehair shifting to left guard and Patrick plugging in at center. Granted, that was before Chicago went out and traded for Feeney, who might factor into plans.
For a unit that didn’t have a chance to develop chemistry this summer, they’re going to have to learn on the fly in a big Week 1 opener against the Green Bay Packers.
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