Should the Chicago Bears be Concerned with Teven Jenkins’ Back Injury?

The Bears draft pick, who is expected to start at left tackle, is dealing with a back injury.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.

#Bears HC Matt Nagy reiterates that injuries to safety Eddie Jackson (hamstring) and RT Germain Ifedi (hip flexor) are "not concerning;" Nagy also said rookie LT Teven Jenkins (back) will miss his second straight practice.

— Larry Mayer (@LarryMayer) July 29, 2021

Teven Jenkins, who the Bears drafted at #39 overall in the 2021 draft, has missed the last two training camp practices with an undisclosed back injury.  Jenkins was expected to battle for the job of protecting Andy Dalton and Justin Field’s blindside this season and beyond. There is no doubt this will trigger some Bears fans to remember 2008 first-round pick Chris Williams and his back injury issues during his first training camp.  That injury started small and ended up being a herniated disc that basically wiped out Williams’ rookie season.  His career never really got back on track and only lasted through the 2012 season in Chicago.

Matt Nagy on rookie left tackle Teven Jenkins (back tightness): “We’ve got a lot of days here ahead of us, and we’ve gotta make sure we’re doing it the right way. And again, just want to make it loud and clear: He wants to be out here bad, but we’re holding him back.”

— Adam Jahns (@adamjahns) July 30, 2021

The one saving grace here appears to be the injury appears to only be “tightness” and nothing structural and the Bears are being cautious early in camp.  It’s reasonable to assume that fans may see more of these soft-tissue injuries coming off a very disjointed COVID season until players get back into a normal strength and conditioning routine.

Jenkins, along with fellow rookie Larry Borom, are critical pieces to the Bears offensive line rebuild that Ryan Pace has started to undertake in the last two seasons along with players like Cody Whitehair, James Daniels, Alex Bars, and Sam Mustipher.  If Jenkins is not ready to start week 1 Bears fans should expect to see free agent signing Elijah Wilkinson starting at left tackle to open the season.

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