Anybody with common sense knows the Chicago Bears are gearing up for a major overhaul of the offensive line this off-season. GM Ryan Poles has neglected far too long. Outside of Darnell Wright, a legitimate case can be made that every other spot is replaceable. The first order of business is figuring out what to do with Teven Jenkins. He is such an enigma. The former 2nd round pick is an effective blocker. Easily the best of their interior trio. However, his track record of health issues hasn’t gone away since he was drafted.
Though Jenkins has only missed one game this season, he’s left several of them early with various issues. There is a chance he could miss Thursday night due to a persistent calf problem. Nobody questions his heart. Sadly, the Bears need somebody reliable. Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune thinks they will reach the same conclusion.
The Bears cannot re-sign Jenkins and act like there’s any level of expectancy that he will all of a sudden have improved availability. I imagine the front office reached this conclusion a while back but as this season grinds to an end — who knows if we see Jenkins back on the field again — the reality is inescapable. He comes out of games too often.
He put it much more succinctly on 670 The Score.
“I don’t believe they will be inclined to attempt to re-sign Teven Jenkins.”
He always seemed like he was on the cusp of something special but never quite got there because of injury setbacks. This type of player characterized most of Ryan Pace’s selections from 2015 through 2021. Eddie Goldman, Leonard Floyd, Jordan Howard, Eddie Jackson, Tarik Cohen, Darnell Mooney, and Justin Fields also encountered similar fates. Something got in the way. Teven Jenkins is another in a long line of injury-prone offensive linemen they’ve drafted over the past two decades. The Bears seem to identify talent fine. It’s durability that has been their Achilles heel. That or just simple bad luck. Whatever the case, it appears left guard will be vacated this spring as the team aims to revamp. Perhaps the two sides may try to work out a short-term deal to maintain some stability.
