Teven Jenkins wants to be on the field.
The Bears, though, want to make sure their second round pick is ready when it counts — in padded practices that start Monday. The left tackle remained out of training camp practice Friday with a sore back.
“Trust me — he wants to be out there but we have to control him from himself and that is what we are going to do here as we go through training camp,” coach Matt Nagy said. “But, obviously, the sooner the better.”
As for the back injury, Nagy said the Bears “want to make sure we are taking care of it the right way by listening to him, listening to our doctors and our trainers and just taking it day-by-day.”
When Jenkins returns, he’ll have a handful waiting for him: edge rushers Khalil Mack and Robert Quinn. Nagy praised Quinn’s play in training camp thus far after the veteran posted an underwhelming first season with the Bears.
“Robert Quinn is doing well,” he said. “You put on the tape and watch him, he’s rolling right now. And I’ve gotta actually tell him to pull the heck back a little bit because he’s getting in that throwing lane with the quarterback and we had a couple close ones [Thursday]. …
“Teven needs that. He’s gotta be able to have that. But 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, I just want to make it loud and clear: He wants to be out here bad, but we’re holding him back. We’ve gotta do it this way.”
Need in Indy?
The Bears will undoubtedly keep an eye on quarterback Carson Wentz’s health in Indianapolis. The Colts quarterback will see a foot specialist after hurting it Thursday, NFL Network reported. His absence leaves the Colts with three healthy quarterbacks who have no professional pass attempts.
It’s unclear if the Colts have interest in Nick Foles, who’s overqualified and overpaid as the Bears’ third-stringer, but there’s a strong connection: Colts head coach Frank Reich was his coordinator on the Eagles’ Super Bowl champion four years ago. Last year, Foles called Reich “the one who really figured me out as a player.”
This and that
o Quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo, who is vaccinated, continued to watch practice remotely Friday while in coronavirus protocol.
“‘Flip’ lives for one thing — that’s individual drills for 15 minutes with those quarterbacks,” Nagy said. “That’s all he cares about. And he can’t do that right now because he’s on a computer [and] Zoom.”
- Safety Eddie Jackson (hamstring), running back Tarik Cohen (knee) and tackle Germain Ifedi (hip) remained out.
- Former Loyola basketball All-American Cameron Krutwig watched practice.
