Teven Jenkins speaks on working Chicago Bears second team

The biggest news to come out of Chicago Bears practices so far this summer has been the status of Teven Jenkins. Jenkins was a second-round pick in the Ryan Pace regime, but now is getting second-team work with the Ryan Poles crew.

Most fans thought Jenkins would be their tackle of the future, but he may never even take off. While some fans are brushing it off as nothing, former offensive lineman Olin Kreutz believes that Jenkins should be getting every first-team rep because of his lack of experience.

Kreutz was able to get Teven Jenkins on his podcast after OTAs. They talked a lot of ball, and the podcast is a must-listen for all Bears fans. Still, the Kreutz got to the question everyone wanted to hear at the end of the podcast.

Kreutz set Jenkins up by saying that he would have been mad if he was playing with the second team, and then gave Jenkins an opportunity to speak on it.

The exchange is below.

"OK:” “…if you can’t talk about that just tell us, but your feeling on running with the twos this past couple of weeks and them trying out Braxton Jones at left tackle”"

"TJ: “Yeah…I probably wouldn’t talk about (mumbled as he goes on)"

"OK: “Don’t worry about it man, I’ll speak for you, I woulda been pissed off (laughs), I would not have been happy about it, but like you are saying you are just doing your work and trying to get back to that first string."

"TJ: “Yeah, exactly, exactly”"

If you go in and listen to the audio, there is a long pause where Jenkins appears as though he thinks about saying something, and probably realizes it is best to say nothing.

He does go on to talk, but with laughter, the back and forth, and Jenkins talking low, you cannot make out what he says, but it seems like he is taking the path of saying nothing to avoid getting in any trouble.

Kreutz decided to fill in the blanks, and Jenkins was a bit more firm and quick to respond that he is feeling similar to how Kreutz described.

It was good on Kreutz to ask, and smart of Jenkins to dance around it a bit. At the same time, just by hearing how he put the answer out there, you can tell that Jenkins is motivated and ready to prove that was a mistake.

If anything, he is not treating the demotion like it is no big deal, and it is just the summer practices. He wants all the first teamwork.