Ryan Poles’ signings of Riley Reiff and Michael Schofield signings send a clear message to Larry Borom and Teven Jenkins.
Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles held his press conference for the opening of training camp today and Halas Hall and announced the signing of offensive lineman Riley Reiff formerly of the Cincinnati Bengals Vikings and Lions. That was the first surprise announcement Poles made but he also made clear that he is sending a message for the two offensive linemen from the previous regime in Larry Borom and Teven Jenkins.
During the question and answer portion session, Poles mentioned two specific things that send a message to both of the young players:
Both players are good players and have come along well thus far in the off-season workouts. They’ve done what they’ve needed to do and have earned their spots on the roster thus far. But Poles and Eberflus both said something else:
The Bears better today along the offensive line than we were yesterday with the addition of two veteran offensive lineman Reiff at 33 and Schofield at 31 bring in a veteran presence and competition aspect. Specifically though Poles made a statement that most seem to have missed:
“I thought they both did a pretty good job,” Ryan Poles said regarding their off-season workouts in OTAs and minicamp.
“I know that they were both challenged in the off-season to continue to work on their bodies and to adapt to the scheme that we’re running. We’ll see here in a couple hours how they did in the off-season,” Ryan Poles stated.
Is Ryan Poles putting pressure on Jenkins and Borom?
Essentially the marching orders for both Jenkins and Borom is based on your size shape and athleticism you don’t ideally fit into what we want from our offensive lineman. Both Jenkins and Borom are nasty and powerful players but neither fits into the athletic profile that the outside zone scheme the Bears run.
Neither player currently are in the type of shape physically for what the Bears will be running on offense.
That type of statement is a very stern one in a very quiet tone. It may not be hard to predict that one or both players may not be here for the long term unless they dramatically shape their physical profile.
As I wrote about earlier it could be Borom or Jenkins that wind up being a surprise cut, sooner rather than later. It may not come down to whether or not they’re good players, but how well they fit the scheme.
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