Jenkins and Borom settling into the tackle spots

Second year offensive lineman Teven Jenkins met the media yesterday following the Chicago Bears OTA practice, and he said his understanding is that right now he’ll be focusing on right tackle.

That’s not to say things won’t change at some point, but this offseason it has appeared that the new regime is giving Jenkins every chance to succeed at right tackle, while fellow second year o-lineman Larry Borom is getting the first crack at left tackle.

Jenkins, a second round draft pick a year ago, played primarily right tackle in college at Oklahoma State, but he was moved to the left side shortly after being drafted.

“It’s nice, and I do look forward to keep on getting reps at right tackle,” Jenkins said yesterday, “It’s about being the best I can be for the team and how can I elevate my play from what I was doing in college, what I was doing last year, to now. I’m trying to elevate everything about myself, mentally and physically.”

Back surgery stunted his development as a rookie, holding him to just 6 games in 2021, but he said he dropped 20 pounds this offseason (down to 325) and cut his body fat from 33% to 24%, so he’s ready to make his mark in the new offense.

Borom has also worked to transform his body since being a fifth-round pick a year ago, and as a rookie he started 8 of the 10 games he appeared in. Like Jenkins, Borom was a right tackle in college, but he did get some work at both sides in 2021.

O-line coach Chris Morgan has liked what he’s seen from his two tackles so far, but there’s a long way to go until week one.

“He’s (Borom) shown us he can run block, he can pass block, but right now it’s just so early,” Morgan said last week. “There’s no pads. With offensive linemen, you guys know the real evaluation starts when it’s not Phase II, it’s not Phase III (OTAs), you’ve got pads on, you can hit, you can fit blocks, you can compete, you can finish in the pocket. Those (tackles) are doing a nice job right now learning the system, learning techniques.”

Once the pads do come on then rookie Braxton Jones and veteran Julién Davenport could be in the mix, but for now the jobs appear to be Jenkins’ and Borom’s to lose.