Chicago Bears: Teven Jenkins Working Hard to Impress the Team

Chicago Bears offensive lineman Teven Jenkins had his rookie season cut due to injury. Now he is ready to show the team he’s ready to help win games.

One of the biggest disappointments of the Chicago Bears over the past decade or so has been the play of its offensive line. It seems that every season we keep talking about the unit’s struggles.

With the line underperforming, the offense continually gets stuck in a rut. A no-good line leads to poor quarterback protection. It also leads to the running game struggling to gain yards. As a result, we keep seeing the offense rank at or near the bottom of most statistics.

One of the players drafted to fix that problem was Teven Jenkins. The Bears had high hopes for him to solidify the unit.

Unfortunately, it didn’t work out. Jenkins suffered from a back injury that cost him most of his rookie season. He missed 11 games when that injury led to surgery.

Jenkins’ loss was a huge blow to the offensive line. Last year’s coaching staff felt so good about him that they cut longtime left tackle Charles Leno despite Jenkins spending nearly all of his college career on the right side. Jenkins was going to learn on the job without a safety net. When he went down, the Bears had to turn to future Hall of Fame lineman Jason Peters.

Peters had a great career but he was 39 years old and his best days were behind him. He was actually fishing when he received the call from the Bears.

Jenkins ended up playing in six games in 2021. However, he only played in 161 snaps. He had some flashes but he also struggled a lot.

New year, new people to impress

Now Jenkins, like all the other veterans, has new people to impress. Ryan Poles is the new general manager and Matt Eberflus is the new head coach. There is also a new coaching staff.

The line is again in the spotlight. We all know how critical it is to offensive success. This time, however, the people Jenkins tries to impress don’t have a link to him. Poles didn’t draft him so he could easily drop him if Jenkins doesn’t impress.

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Jenkins doing whatever it takes to prove himself

Jenkins knows the pressure is on him. If he didn’t know, he got a message when mini-camp started. On the first day, Eberflus switched Jenkins and right tackle Larry Borom. Borom also had an injury that cost him some games but after a rough start, he settled down and performed pretty well.

Jenkins wants to show the coaching staff he’s willing to do any and everything to prove himself. He changed up his training routine and added Pilates. The Pilates and a new diet helped him lose 20 pounds this offseason. Furthermore, he dropped his body fat from 33 percent to 24 percent. He says his back problems are behind him now.

I have no thought about my back. I trust everything that goes into it, especially the Pilates part, making your core strong. As soon as you have your core strong, all that takes away from any back pain you might have. I’m not worried about the back at all.

Jenkins knows that his position on the team could be in peril if he doesn’t impress.

For me, it’s about earning trust and earning their belief that I deserve to be on this team still. I’m working for that trust.

The Bears want to have lighter, more athletic players on the line. Jenkins knows that so he transformed his body. Now that he’s lighter and more flexible, he doesn’t have to worry about his back. Additionally, his lighter weight could now make him quicker.

Jenkins hopes he does enough to not only keep a starting job but also a roster spot. It doesn’t matter if it’s on the left or right side. He wants to be an integral part of the Chicago Bears’ return to success. The team and its fans want that as well.