The Chicago Bears are on the precipice of a new era with Justin Fields. It’s one the likes of which the franchise has never experienced. But that era is likely to be on hold for the foreseeable future. Their offensive line, already an area of concern, has been decimated by injuries. To be fair, the Bears have injuries on both sides of the ball.
But the information coming out regarding second-round pick and projected starting left tackle Teven Jenkins has been particularly disturbing. And it got even worse on Wednesday when it was announced he underwent back surgery.
Justin Fields Might Not Even Be Able to Save Bears GM Ryan Pace After Jenkins Surgery
For weeks Matt Nagy has said Jenkins was trending in the right direction despite the 6-foot-6 lineman progressing to the stationary bike just a week ago.
The Bears brought in 39-year-old Jason Peters to “compete at left tackle”. He was a stalwart on the Eagles line for years but has dealt with injuries the past two seasons, making just eight starts for Philly in 2020.
Again, though, we were told that the signing had nothing to do with Jenkins.
We suspected it at the time, but now it’s clear that was untrue. Many will understandably want to come at Nagy for selling a bill of goods. But this situation is above even his control.
Ryan Pace has built a reputation largely off of finding gems in players that were passed on for one reason or another, usually injury. Eddie Jackson and Jaylon Johnson are probably the most prominent examples of this.
That’s paid off for guys overperforming on their rookie deals. But it begins to look a lot less effective when those guys get paid and their play declines as Jackson’s — who slid thanks to a broken leg his final season at Alabama did last season.
Johnson will be stepping into the shoes of the departed Kyle Fuller, cut for cap reasons. But he has dealt with shoulder injuries dating back to his college days.
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A Disturbing Trend
Speaking of Fuller, Robert Quinn was the scapegoated by the fanbase for the All-Pro cornerback’s departure. He showed well in the preseason opener but has a long way to go to justify his hefty price tag.
It all comes back to Pace, though, who has had an eye for hobbled players for years. His first major free agent signing Pernell McPhee was undone in Chicago by a knee injury. And, while it’s not Pace’s fault per se, he still took one of the greatest busts in Bears history in wide receiver Kevin White.
Of course, with regards to Jenkins, offensive line injuries precede even Pace in Chicago Bears history.
Marc Colombo, Gabe Carimi, and Christopher Williams were all taken with hopes of being the next James “Big Cat” Williams only to fall flat. It does need to be said that Colombo was able to carve out a respectable career, starting at least 15 games in five of his six full seasons in Dallas.
None of those guys are on Pace’s ledger, but Jenkins’ status sure has it looking like the trend is trying to resurface.
Close Isn’t Enough
Surprising fight-round rookie Larry Borom aside, the most egregious infraction could be how woefully thin the Bears were along the offensive line in the first place. It’s why many had them targeting a lineman — some projections even predicted Jenkins — with their first-round pick in April’s draft.
But once the decision was made to move up for Fields, the plan for the line should have changed right along with it.
Taking Jenkins and doubling down with Borom was a nice move on draft night, and probably the best plan for their remaining picks. Stopping there was a mistake and the Bears, Fields, and fans are all going to pay for it.
Chicago reportedly pursued Trent Williams but that obviously didn’t pan out. Some may want to point to the effort made as a positive. But for a guy who has pulled out no stops to get a player he was sold on, this feels like a terrible oversight.
Taking Justin Fields Might Not Be Enough to Save Bears GM Pace
When the Bears drafted Field the only logical conclusion was that Pace and Nagy had just bought themselves another couple of years. No one wants to take a quarterback only to have to remake the foundation around them just a year later. But, interestingly enough, the Bears might already have a predecessor on the payroll.
By all accounts, the first three years or so of Pace’s tenure were all him. He operated autonomously and, as we now know, often in secrecy of his coaching staff.
Nagy has taken more and more control (although not always ownership) of the roster.
It’s possible we see a future in which the McCaskey family decide that the chef (Nagy) is making five-course meals out of scraps from the person shopping for the groceries (Pace) and officially give the head coach the “general manager” role.
Many say he’s already operating as the de facto final voice on roster decisions. They point to the process and selection of Fields as proof positive of that and, honestly, it’s hard to dispute.
At any rate, the Bears have painted themselves into a corner with Fields. They’ve stated their goal was to let him sit the entire season. But he’s opened the door for him to become the starter this season. How can anyone feel good knowing the state of this line?
Can fans have faith that this regime can put the proper pieces around their new toy? To that point, can you even separate Pace and Nagy in the discussion? Even though there have been patterns suggesting who had more say in what, it’s hard to absolve either. It’s just easier for Bears fans to blame Nagy because he contradicts himself often and Pace rarely speaks.
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