Chicago Bears: Losing Teven Jenkins puts immense pressure on offensive line

Teven Jenkins undergoing back surgery leaves the Chicago Bears looking for answers on their offensive line.

When the Chicago Bears traded up to draft Oklahoma State’s Teven Jenkins, the idea was that Chicago landed a “freight train” specimen that could help stabilize their offensive line. Unfortunately, that’s not the case, at least for now.

On Wednesday, head coach Matt Nagy announced that Jenkins would be undergoing back surgery and would be missing a significant amount of time. Nagy also says the goal is to get him back this season.

This is a major blow for two reasons. For one, the offensive line is a major area of concern for Chicago, hence the reason they double-dipped at the tackle position in last year’s draft. However, fifth-rounder Larry Borom hasn’t played much either, leaving reserves and free agents to pick up the slack.

Also, this is eerily similar to when Chicago drafted Gabe Carimi back in 2011 ahead of Pro Bowlers Muhammad Wilkerson and Cameron Heyward. That incident gives the fans in Chicago a bad memory, given how Carimi had back issues for much of his time with the Bears and never truly regained the same form that made him a star at Wisconsin.

Teven Jenkins’s absence doesn’t doom the Chicago Bears, but it is a major cause for concern.

This does beg the question of where do the Bears go from here? Isn’t it quite obvious? Find a replacement and make the best out of what you have. The Bears did sign former Pro Bowler Jason Peters, but given his age and injury list, you must wonder if this is another Orlando Pace move.

For those who don’t recall, Pace, a Hall of Fame left tackle, spent most of his career with the Rams while they were known as The Greatest Show on Turf. In Chicago, however, it wasn’t quite the same.

Moreover, newly minted Bears Hall of Famer and Super Bowl Champion Jimbo Covert isn’t walking through that door. Neither is John Tait, one of the more underrated tackles in the game and part of the franchise’s last run to the Super Bowl in 2006.

The Bears were aggressive in trading up to get Teven Jenkins and, unfortunately, he will be on the bench for a while. Here’s hoping that he makes a strong recovery because if not, this investment will most certainly hurt in the long run.