Teven Jenkins’ start to his Chicago Bears career hasn’t exactly gone as planned. The second-round rookie offensive tackle out of Oklahoma State battled a back injury that held him out of all of training camp and preseason, where he had surgery to remedy the issue.
But Bears head coach Matt Nagy remained hopeful Jenkins would be able to return at some point this year, and he might be close.
While Jenkins remains on injured reserve as he heals from back surgery, he was spotted at Bears practice on Friday, where he was running hill sprints off to the side.
#Bears rookie offensive tackle Teven Jenkins was running hill sprints (in the background here) at practice Friday. pic.twitter.com/QBjkrE6Mms
— Sean Hammond (@sean_hammond) November 5, 2021
While Nagy hasn’t given an update about Jenkins’ return from IR, Bears left tackle Jason Peters has certainly been more forthcoming than Nagy. Not only did Peters announce rookie tackle Larry Borom’s return before Nagy, but Peters said a couple of weeks back that he believed Jenkins was still a few weeks away from returning.
Offensive tackle has been one of the biggest issues on the Bears roster this season, as they’ve dealt with injuries and depth concerns dating back to training camp, which prompted the signing of 39-year-old Peters, who has been one of the team’s most consistent offensive linemen.
While Germain Ifedi remains on IR — and on the reserve/COVID-19 list — Borom made his first start at right tackle last week against the 49ers, where he had a solid debut.
The hope is Jenkins develops into the team’s left tackle of the future, where we could see Jenkins and Borom anchoring the offensive line.
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