The Chicago Bears continued to check Teven Jenkins at proper guard Tuesday throughout their last apply earlier than Thursday’s preseason sport in opposition to the Seattle Seahawks.
At some point after getting second-team reps on the place, Jenkins took first-team reps there because the Bears attempt to discover the appropriate mixture for his or her offensive line.
Earlier than and after apply, coach Matt Eberflus, offensive line coach Chris Morgan and left guard Cody Whitehair talked about Jenkins’ transfer from sort out and a number of other different subjects. Listed here are 4 issues we heard.
1. Morgan thinks Jenkins has the attributes to excel at guard.
The Bears have burdened the necessity to get their 5 finest offensive linemen on the sector as they tinker with totally different choices.
Rookie Braxton Jones is getting an prolonged take a look at left sort out, and Riley Reiff and Larry Borom have cut up reps at proper sort out — and may play on both aspect. So Jenkins’ finest guess to earn a roster spot may be displaying the flexibility to play guard and sort out.
The Bears produce other choices too. Veteran Michael Schofield began at proper guard within the preseason opener, and Sam Mustipher can also play there, although he has been at middle whereas Lucas Patrick is injured. However Morgan stated the coaches are excited to see what Jenkins can present them, and will probably be price watching how they use him in opposition to the Seahawks.
“He’s acquired nice dimension,” Morgan stated. “He’s acquired good energy. He’s a sensible soccer participant. These are all stuff you need inside, that translate inside. Issues transfer quick inside.”
Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy stated Monday that guards carry an even bigger psychological load in his system and thinks Jenkins, a 2021 second-round select of Oklahoma State, can deal with it. Whitehair is lending recommendation wherever he can as Jenkins dives into the brand new function.
“There’s simply much more attending to the second degree, ensuring that you just’re on the identical web page with safety calls and stuff like that,” Whitehair stated of the challenges in Getsy’s system. “The opposite methods I used to be in, you didn’t fairly have to make use of your eyes as a lot at guard. However there’s plenty of accountability that your eyes must be proper so far as attending to the second degree and seeing totally different blitzes.”
Eberflus known as Jenkins a sensible, athletic participant, including he has instructed his workers to not put a ceiling on a participant. It’s a mantra Eberflus discovered from one in all his mentors, and he utilized it to Jenkins making an attempt to be taught a brand new place after lacking important time at sort out final season with a again damage and some practices this coaching camp with an undisclosed damage.
“Let him develop. Let him do his factor as a result of some folks mature and develop at totally different instances and hastily they simply develop into a extremely good NFL participant,” Eberflus stated. “And that’s for any place. We’re by no means going to place ceilings on guys. We’re at all times going to suppose the most effective for each participant.”
2. Whitehair already is offered on Jones changing into an excellent participant.
Jones has been with the Bears for less than three-plus months, however the fifth-round decide from Southern Utah clearly has gained over some folks in his quest to be the beginning left sort out, a job that would have gone to Reiff, Borom or Jenkins.
“Our division did a extremely good job of discovering him,” Whitehair stated. “They knew what they had been searching for. I feel they discovered an excellent one in him.
“The way in which he research, the best way he understands stuff. He’s very athletic, he’s acquired nice size, he makes use of his palms effectively. I actually like the place Braxton’s at proper now. He’s solely going to proceed to develop and I’m actually excited to see that progress.”
Morgan stated Jones is wired to get higher each day, so he wasn’t stunned how shortly the rookie caught on.
“He actually has a transparent imaginative and prescient of his course of,” Morgan stated. “He has a transparent imaginative and prescient of how he needs to assault it. He’s acquired a transparent imaginative and prescient of the way to measure himself everyday.”
3. Rookie middle Doug Kramer is out with a decrease leg damage.
Eberflus didn’t specify what Kramer’s damage was after the lineman missed apply Monday and Tuesday, however he stated Kramer could be out for an prolonged interval. The crew positioned Kramer on injured reserve Tuesday.
The Tribune’s Brad Biggs reported the crew feared it could possibly be a Lisfranc damage in Kramer’s foot, which might put his season in jeopardy.
Kramer, a 2022 sixth-round select of Illinois, performed 73% of the offensive snaps within the preseason opener. He had been backing up Mustipher at middle.
4. Morgan is proud of how Borom remade his physique.
Because the Bears search to turn into faster and lighter on the offensive line, Borom stated his goal weight of 320 is about 15 kilos lighter than final season.
Morgan praised the best way Borom went about remaking his physique and pointed to his even mindset as an attribute that has helped him as he works at each sort out spots.
“Larry did a heck of a job within the offseason placing himself in place to return out and compete,” Morgan stated. “You simply admire his mindset. He's going to attempt to get higher each day.
“He has an ideal day, it doesn’t matter. He had a foul day, it doesn’t matter. I commend him on that. That’s a psychological toughness attribute to me, and he’s doing a very nice job of leaping from proper to left.”
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