Bears Maintain Teven Jenkins Is Hurt

It seemed more like a stay of execution than an injury report.

Bears coach Matt Eberflus finally gave out some information on injured tackle Teven Jenkins, as the rumors and discussion about the Bears tackle seemed to build by the second over the course of a week of official silence by the team on his absence.

Eberflus maintained Jenkins has an actual injury. He is not missing practice because he's pouting, as some reports produced by non-beat writers have suggested.

"Yeah, Teven's in that group where he's working with the trainers and he'll be back when he's back," Eberflus said.

Eberflus said it is an absence resulting 100% from injury but still wasn't specific about the nature of the injury.

"When they tell me it's more of a day-to-day situation, then I will inform you of that because that's what our policy is at this time of year," Eberflus said.

Earlier, Eberflus said the team will announce injuries if they are long-term ones, and one of those he spoke about was the hamstring injury to Thomas Graham Jr.

Although Jenkins hasn't been seen out on the practice field watching, he has been at Halas Hall all along.

"To work with the trainers, yeah, he's in the building, sure. Yeah," Eberflus said.

One thing Eberflus didn't have a problem talking about was the impact of the absence from practice for Jenkins. It isn't good.

The #Bears have received calls and have held trade talks centered around OT Teven Jenkins, sources tell me and @MikeGarafolo. The former 2nd round pick has drawn interest based on his potential. A situation to watch.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 1, 2022

"That's really for everybody, isn't it?" Eberflus said. "So anybody that misses time on the grass, that's not good. It's not good for the player, it's not good for the team. That's (not) just Teven; that's everybody.

"So if you miss because of a soft-tissue injury or you're gonna be out a few days or whatever that might be–case-by-case basis–we need you on the grass."

Out of sight out of mind?

"(It's) what we talked about (Monday), functional intelligence," Eberflus said. "How do we see that without actually functioning on the field? So that's the important part of that."

Meanwhile, the offense line has worked with another group while Jenkins has been away. Left tackle Riley Reiff moved over for the second straight day and practiced on the right side at tackle while Braxton Jones continued working with starters at left tackle. They had rookie Doug Kramer at center for almost all of practice.

For Jones, the signing of Reiff at the outset of camp could have been interpreted as a no-confidence vote but he hasn't taken in that way.

"It does two things for me," Jones said. "It just is another way to compete. I think that's the biggest thing. And then learning from a vet. Just kind of like how I answered (a reporter's) question, he sees things a lot differently. He has experience. He has been in the league for a long time.

"So no matter what, honestly, we’re competing for a job and it enables me to have a little more experience by asking him the questions and having him be like, 'You did this wrong' or 'You did that right.' At the end of the day, we're still competing. It's two great things and I just thought of it as an opportunity."

The Bears have been and continue to experiment with all sorts of combinations at numerous positions, and tackle is one of them. It could just be making sure they haven't overlooked a possible effective combination at the tackles by getting both Reiff and Jones on the field.

Eberflus describes Jones as capable for a fifth-round rookie.

"He’s just, you know, absorbed all the information in executing," Eberflus said. "He’s done that and he’s showing that it’s not too big for him. When you come in as a rookie sometimes the spots are big and not to say that he’s been perfect because he’s a rookie and he’s had his moments, but he’s doing a good job.

"We like where he is, we like where he’s progressing and he’s got a long way to go but we like where he’s at."

More specifically, Jones could be more of an athlete at left tackle than the other players, and it's a position requiring this.

"You know when you play tackle you have to show, first of all, you’ve got to show the athleticism at left tackle to be able to mirror–get out your stance, kick slide and then mirror and stay in front of people," Eberflus said. "That’s the most important thing because you know what kind of guys line up on that defensive side, right?

"So, that’s the most important part of it to be able to do that and then understanding protections, your job, your assignment and then the run game. In the run game the tackle does a lot of different things. He comes down on the three technique, he fans out on the five technique, there’s a lot of physical plays he has to do. He jumps to the second level on the outside zone. Has to capture linebackers. So, that’s an athletic position and really all of our offensive line we want to be athletes to be able to do that with the scheme we’re running."

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