When the Bears signed veteran tackle Jason Peters this week, it was a sign that they were not counting on second-round pick Teven Jenkins being ready to start the season at left tackle.
That fear was well founded. Jenkins has missed all of training camp with a back injury and head coach Matt Nagy said on Wednesday that Jenkins will have surgery to address the issue.
Jenkins’ back issues date back to his days at Oklahoma State. The Bears traded up to take Jenkins despite being aware of the problem and that gamble has backfired on them to this point.
Nagy added that the team hopes to have Jenkins back this season, but it’s unclear when he might be healthy and asking him to step in to play after missing all of his first NFL training camp will be a tall order.
