The Chicago Bears are back from their bye week, and so is Brad Biggs’ weekly Bears mailbag. Despite a four-game losing streak, an encouraging performance the last time out in Pittsburgh has s…
The Chicago Bears are back from their bye week, and so is Brad Biggs’ weekly Bears mailbag. Despite a four-game losing streak, an encouraging performance the last time out in Pittsburgh has some readers wondering if Justin Fields and the offense are hitting their stride. If Teven Jenkins returns to the active roster in the coming weeks, what will the offensive line look like? Does someone slide inside? — @twtamtrakandrew That was the No.1 question in the mailbag this week by a landslide. I don’t think there is a clear answer right now, and I also don’t believe the Bears need to pick a spot for him immediately. This process could take several weeks to play out. Jenkins practiced Monday for the first time since the spring. He has yet to practice in full pads, and an important element people should keep in mind is that the collective bargaining agreement prevents teams from conducting more than one practice in full pads each week. So Jenkins will get one practice in full pads (with very limited contact) this week. The Bears play on Thanksgiving next week in Detroit, so there won’t be a normal practice, certainly not one in full pads. That leaves one more practice in full pads before the Week 13 meeting with the Arizona Cardinals on Dec.5 before the three-week window to evaluate Jenkins in practice shuts and a decision on his roster status is due. I’m not saying this will prevent him from being available in the second half of the season, but everyone needs to understand the realities of in-season practice rules and that it likely will take some time to get a second-round draft pick who missed the entirety of training camp and the preseason up to speed. The Bears have had an aggressive timeline for bringing some players back from injured reserve once the practice window starts. Rookie offensive lineman Larry Borom is a good example of that. But Jenkins’ situation — returning from back surgery — is different. The good news is the Bears believe he has worked hard in the weight room to return, so hopefully he’ll make strides on the practice field. Where would Jenkins slot in several weeks from now? I don’t know. When first-round draft pick Chris Williams returned from back surgery midway through his rookie season in 2008, he worked on the field-goal team and played in packages with six offensive linemen. My hunch is if Jenkins proves he’s ready, this team will have a bigger plan for him. We need to see how the next several games play out. It’s possible an injury creates an opening and necessitates a move. There are a lot of factors to consider. What is the team’s record? How is the line performing when Jenkins is deemed ready? Obviously,39-year-old left tackle Jason Peters isn’t part of the team’s future playing on a one-year contract, but the Bears will want their best option protecting the blind side of quarterback Justin Fields. Offensive line coach Juan Castillo said the Bears will work Jenkins at both tackle positions. It’s also possible that Jenkins eventually could emerge as a guard, which is where some NFL scouts believe he projected best entering the draft. Before a move inside, the Bears probably would want to see how he performs at tackle. It’s also possible Borom could be the future left tackle. That’s a long way of saying we don’t know where Jenkins will play when he’s ready, and it’s a reminder we don’t know when Jenkins will be ready. The best way for him to grow and develop is to get playing time. One more thing, for the crowd that believes shuffling the offensive line is the answer: The more players you ask to change positions, the more issues you potentially create for a line that is playing in front of a rookie quarterback. With the offense still in growth mode, stopping the run is essential. What plans does the defensive coordinator have in order to jam up those gaping holes? — @joecrisara The Bears played pretty darn good run defense the last time out in Pittsburgh, holding the Steelers to 105 yards on 32 carries. Impressive rookie Najee Harris gained 62 yards on 22 attempts, and the only thing the Bears had some issues with were jet sweep handoffs. Wide receivers James Washington, Chase Claypool and Diontae Johnson each hit one for a gain of more than 10 yards. Other than that, it was a stout defensive performance. You raise a good question, though, because in the previous three weeks, the run defense was particularly bad, and the Bears enter Week 11 tied for 23rd in the NFL with 123.8 yards allowed per game and 19th with 4.38 yards allowed per carry. “There were some big outliers there, especially in particular that San Francisco game, where, boy, they were really running the ball well against us and had some long drives and yards per rush attempts was high,” Bears coach Matt Nagy said. “I really have thought that for most of the season we’ve done a good job at being able to stop the run until a few outlier games. That’s where we’ve got to reel it in and say, ‘OK, hey, guys, why? What is that?’ So Sean (Desai) and those guys, they give their reports. We go through it as a staff a million different ways in all three phases. We really focus on the outliers. “We want to be better. We know we’ve got to be better stopping the run. It starts there, just as it starts on offense with being able to run the football. I know our coaches are all over it, and that’s something that here (in) the second part of the season, we need to start there and get better there.
