Getty Bears guard Teven Jenkins.
Teven Jenkins is ready to start talking about a potential contract extension with the Chicago Bears, but the team isn’t looking to dive into negotiations just yet.
Jenkins is entering the final year of his rookie contract with the Bears in 2024 and has been vocal since early in the offseason about his desire to sign a new deal and stay in Chicago for the long term. Back in May, he told 670 The Score his agent had reached out to the Bears about starting talks but was told to wait until after the NFL draft.
Jenkins also reinforced in that interview that he wants to “be a Bear for a long time.”
For now, though, Jenkins and his agent are still playing the waiting game. When asked about where contract talks stand at the beginning of training camp, he indicated that the Bears rejected their post-draft request to begin negotiations and said the team once again asked them to wait to have those conversations until a later point in the year.
“Last I was told, I’ve got to wait until the bye week to reconvene about it,” Jenkins told reporters after the team’s third practice of training camp on July 22.
Teven Jenkins’ Health Remains a Concern for Bears
Jenkins — a 2021 second-round pick who just turned 26 in March — has played well for the Bears since switching from offensive tackle to guard after his rookie season.
In his first season as a starting guard in 2022, Jenkins allowed just two sacks on 304 pass-blocking snaps and finished with a high-end 82.2 run-blocking grade from Pro Football Focus that seemed to signal his potential stardom. He then moved from right to left guard between 2022 and 2023 and maintained his high level of play, even as the Bears asked him to swap back to the right side for four games due to injuries.
The problem, however, is not Jenkins’ quality of play, but rather his availability. His back issues in college made his rookie season a mess for the Bears, who had to place him on injured reserve before the season opener after Jenkins underwent back surgery. He returned and played 160 snaps to close out the year, but it clouded his future.
Since then, Jenkins has been healthier, but not to the point where the Bears no longer need to worry about him. He missed four games due to injuries in the second half of the 2022 season, landing on injured reserve ahead of the team’s season finale in January. He then missed five more in 2023, including the first four games of the campaign.
With Jenkins’ injury history in mind, it is no wonder why the Bears prefer to wait until the midway point in the 2024 season to start engaging with his camp on a new contract. Jenkins will have to prove that he can stay healthy — and remain a high-quality player — for the Bears if he wants them to invest further. If he can, he should get his payday.
Teven Jenkins Actively Investing More into his Body
Injuries can be a difficult thing to control for professional athletes in a contact sport, but Jenkins is taking additional steps beyond what he has done in the past to ensure his body holds up not only for the 2024 season but also for a long-term future in the NFL.
During his recent media session, Jenkins revealed that he has been sinking significantly more financial resources into his body than he has in the past. He plans to talk to his personal trainer about visiting his house twice a week in preparation for game days. He is testing out new chefs to refine his diet and limit his body’s in-season inflammation.
In total, Jenkins estimates he is spending “almost double” on his body than what he previously did. (And that is admittedly no easy task with a newborn in the household).
“Honestly, [I’m doing it for] just basically the future of what I want,” Jenkins said. “I’ve made it vocal many times that I want to be here on the Chicago Bears and whatever I need to do of how much I need to pay forward to get it back in the backend, and that’s the determination I have to keep doing that and understanding that I need to spend more short term to get more long term for myself and my family.”