With the unexpected injury to Teven Jenkins the Chicago Bears shuffled their offensive line around on practice Monday.
Teven Jenkins strained both his calf muscles and will reportedly miss up to six weeks as a result of the injury that seeming came out of nowhere. With Jenkins out a familiar face returned to left guard as Cody Whitehair moved from center to his left and Lucas Patrick moved to center.
During the viewing period of Bears practice, as you might be able to see in the photo below, Lucas Patrick was snapping in O-line drills with Cody Whitehair to his left. Read into that what you will pic.twitter.com/xGJlc8xLXn
— Kevin Fishbain (@kfishbain) August 21, 2023
The move instantly stabilizes the offensive line because of the combined starting experience of Whitehair and Patrick. The Bears don’t have to move nonstarters Ja’Tyre Carter or Alex Leatherwood to the left guard spot. Patrick is coming back off an injury from the end of last season but is healthy now.
If Patrick is back up to full speed and can lock down the center spot until Teven Jenkins returns then the Bears won’t be as bad off in week one versus the Packers.
More than anything the move should allay the fear fans and media alike of who is going to be protecting for Justin Fields. The Bears have far better versatility and experience on the offensive line than they did a year ago. So the injury to Jenkins shouldn’t be as alarming as most first thought it would be.
The most alarming thing is how consistently Teven Jenkins seems to get injured and never seems to stay healthy. Jenkins is one of the promising young offensive guards in the NFL. However he has yet to play a full season and won’t be playing a full season yet again as he heads into his third year.
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