Injuries Hitting Bears Hard

First it was the offensive line and now as Teven Jenkins returns from an injury, the Bears are without receiver Byron Pringle, N'Keal Harry and Velus Jones Jr.

Tackle Teven Jenkins is back.

Now the Bears are missing wide receivers.

After missing seven days of practice, Jenkins returned Saturday to Bears training camp and worked on a limited basis in their ninth practice of camp.

However, the Bear lost wide receiver Byron Pringle to a quad injury and wide receiver N'Keal Harry had to be helped off the field with a left leg injury that the Bears still need to assess.

Pringle's injury is serious enough that coach Matt Eberflus said it will be "a while" before he returns but he doesn't think it's serious enough to jeopardize his availability for the regular-season opener Sept. 11.

"It's longer than day to day, so that's all I can say, but no real timetable to return," Eberflus said about Pringle, who was expected to be the team's second-leading receiver.

Harry was injured on a hit by Nicholas Morrow after catching a wide receiver screen in a padded, contact practice. Now the Bears have depth issues at receiver for practice, so it wouldn't be a shock if they signed another one.

They were also without rookie Velus Jones Jr., who is day to day with an injury the Bears refuse to report.

"You know, during camp when you have this 90-man roster and guys go down with a soft-tissue stuff or whatever it might be, you put workloads on other guys," Eberflus said. "And those other guys have opportunity. They have more reps, so you have to be mindful of that. And we were. We’re mindful of that."

The receiver who stepped up most was former Titans and Falcons receiver Tajae Sharpe, who made a few catches in scrimmaging and played like the seven-year veteran he is. Sharpe started camp on the non-football injury list but has been practicing for the past few days.

"When you have a guy step up like that, that's awesome," Eberflus said. "That's what it's all about, right? Guys go down, guys step up and Tajae did a nice job. We're excited to have him back. He's back now and he looks good in the drills, and like you said made a couple nice plays."

Without those receivers, it's little wonder the offense struggled at times at chunk yardage again.

The offensive line situation looks better with Jenkins back, but the circumstances of his absence and also his return are largely mysteries. The Bears won't reveal the nature of Jenkins' injury and neither will he. He had back surgery and missed last year's training camp as a rookie.

Jenkins did some individual work and Eberflus said his snaps will ramp up from this point. He estimates he is at 90% strength.

The real issue with Jenkins were reports he could potentially bet traded and that he wasn't getting along with coaches. Jenkins did address the coaching issue.

"From my understanding, I love the coaches," Jenkins said. "We have no animosity towards each other. We talk to each other every day. That's it."

It would have been understandable if Jenkins wanted a trade as he was drafted by another regime and suddenly finds himself in a starting and even roster battle with other players. He doesn't want a trade.

"For me myself, I'm a loyal type of guy," he said. "The Chicago Bears, they drafted me so I'm going to stay with the Chicago Bears until whenever it is.

The Bears drafted fifth-round tackle Braxton Jones and he has been practicing with the first team ahead of Jenkins, their second-round pick in 2021. They signed 33-year-old free agent Riley Reiff and he has practiced ahead of Jenkins, too.

"I gotta get better myself, and work on my stuff," Jenkins said.

One thing Jenkins could expound upon was his feeling of frustration after missing last year's camp and then leaving this year's after a day of work.

"Yeah, it's very frustrating not to go but that's the way of the world," Jenkins said. "That's OK. It's going to happen."

Jenkins could get some first-team snaps on Sunday but on Saturday, with Braxton Jone suffering from a minor injury and Reiff receiving a veteran's day off, it was up to veteran journeyman Shon Coleman to play left tackle. Larry Borom played right tackle.

"Just in general, I'm here for the Chicago Bears right now," Jenkins said. "I'm here to play football for the Chicago Bears and that's what I'm going to do, and what I plan on doing right now."

The Bears continue to deal with a few other minor injuries, and had cornerbacks Kyler Gordon and Kindle Vildor on the sideline.

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