Teven Jenkins had reps at right guard

It’s been over a week since Teven Jenkins returned to practice for the Chicago Bears, and most of his time at training camp and in the preseason game was spent at right tackle, but today he worked exclusively at right guard.

“Guards get stressed mentally more than tackles do in this system,” Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy said today after practice. “That’s the strength of his game. So we want to try that and see what that looks like within what we’re trying to get done.”

The Bears have been using veteran Riley Reiff as the number one right tackle with second-year pro Larry Borom as his backup, so right guard could be a path for a starting job for Jenkins. In Saturday’s preseason opener, it was Michael Schofield III who played with the ones, and he had a few poor reps. To be fair, he was matched up with Chris Jones, who is one of the better defensive tackles in the NFL, but Schofield is 31 years old and signed to just a one-year deal, while Jenkins has more potential.

The Bears have said they’ll play their best five offensive linemen, and if Jenkins has his early camp issues behind him, he could be one of those five.

I discussed Jenkins’ play against the Chiefs in our latest Bear & Balanced here.

In training camp injury news, rookies Kyler Gordon (CB) and Velus Jones Jr. (WR) returned to practice, but Jaquan Brisker (S) was held out. Gordon and Jones could make their preseason debut on Thursday night in Seattle against the Seahawks.

Other Bears missing practice today were defensive backs Michael Joseph, Jayson Stanley, Thomas Graham Jr., Tavon Young, Greg Stroman Jr., and Dane Cruikshank, linebacker Javin White, wide receiver Byron Pringle, and tight end Ryan Griffin.

But these Bears all returned to practice after missing some recent time; running back David Montgomery, offensive tackle Julién Davenport, tight ends Cole Kmet and James O’Shaughnessy, defensive linemen Mario Edwards Jr. and Angelo Blackson, and corners Kindle Vildor and Duke Shelley.