With the Chicago Bears getting Teven Jenkins back to practice the next question becomes where he will line up when he returns. Jenkins played right tackle in college, but the team said he would be their future at left tackle. Of course, due to his injury they signed Jason Peters, who would be hard to bench.
With that in mind the hope is that Juan Castillo and the Chicago Bears at least have a plan. Castillo said after practice that Jenkins will get work on both sides and that he played left tackle today.
Bears offensive line coach Juan Castillo said the team plans to alternate Teven Jenkins between left and right tackle during practice.
— Chris Emma (@CEmma670) November 15, 2021
Jenkins worked at left tackle today, which he has told Castillo is now his more comfortable position despite playing right tackle in college.
Castillo did not say that Jenkins would play guard, which is good to note. He also did not note if Peters would move to guard, but the overall assumption is that Jenkins ran with the twos. That means that Peters still took all his work with the starters, and he is on track to start this week. It would be stunning to see Jenkins activated that soon anyways.
Still, Jenkins getting work at both left and right tackle is interesting. The Bears have two and potentially three more weeks before they have to make a decision. They would be insane to activate Jenkins and bench him, so a move is coming soon.
If Peters is still healthy, which is not a sure thing two weeks from now, the Bears may put Jenkins at right tackle. They can still work Jenkins on the left side with the twos and develop him, but he can start at right tackle, where he played all last season.
The issue fans would have here is Larry Borom, but before the season there was talk that he was a potential long-term guard. He got work at right guard before, and if Peters retires after the season it would be a quick swap of Jenkins to the left and Borom back outside. Still, from Weeks 13-18 the duo could make up the right side.
This would put James Daniels back at center. Considering he is playing his best football and has always profiled as a center, it may be time to give him that chance again. At this point in time, the best five from left to right may be Peters, Whitehair, Daniels, Borom, Jenkins, Then, the backup reps can go to Jenkins, Bars, Mustipher, Wilkinson, and Borom.