The news surrounding Chicago Bears rookie offensive tackle, Teven Jenkins, keeps getting worse. Bears Head Coach, Matt Nagy, announced this morning that Jenkins will undergo back surgery.
#Bears coach Matt Nagy tells reporters that second round LT Teven Jenkins will have back surgery today, but the “hope is to have him back this season."
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 18, 2021
The slimmest bit of silver lining is that Nagy said the Bears “hope” to have him return sometime this year, but this is a massive step back for the 2nd round rookie out of Oklahoma State. Jenkins was drafted at #39 overall in May’s draft and was immediately penciled in as the Bears’ starting left tackle. Jenkins has yet to take a rep in training camp and the left tackle position has been manned by free-agent acquisition Elijah Wilkinson.
The Bears did add another tackle to the mix over the weekend with the signing of eventual Hall of Famer Jason Peters, but Peters remains in the NFL’s COVID-19 protocols and can’t join the team quite yet.
The biggest story here might be what this means for the development of Justin Fields and his playing time both in the preseason and regular season. Nagy is on record as having said that the Bears offensive line situation will help dictate how much Fields will play. The loss of Jenkins is sure to affect that calculation, as will the sub-par play of Wilkinson, and the short turnaround for Peters joining the team.
Make sure to check out our Chicago Bears forum for the latest on the team as training camp continues in the month of August leading up to the Week 1 kickoff in early September against the Rams.
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