Teven Jenkins Leaving Practice a Real Concern

Bears injuries continue to stack up after two padded practices as Teven Jenkins leaves practice and joins a group who were on the sidelines.

Teven Jenkins became the latest Bears player to suffer an injury, although the team hasn't immediately reported its nature or severity.

The Bears left guard ran off the field during scrimmage. He isn't alone. Defensive tackle Justin Jones and defensive end DeMarcus Walker did not practice on Wednesday, the day before a day off.

Jenkins was replaced in the lineup by Alex Leatherwood. Normally the backup guard is veteran Lucas Patrick but Patrick was playing right guard due to an injury to Nate Davis.

Davis, running back Roschon Johnson and fullback Khari Blasingame had missed Tuesday's practice with unspecified injuries. Walker had left Tuesday's practice but it wasn't immediately clear he was suffering from an injury. The same was true of linebacker Jack Sanborn, but Sanborn had been coming off an ankle injury in the off-season. Neither Walker nor Sanborn were at Wednesday's practice.

Johnson, the rookie from Texas, was in the rehab area working on a stationary bicycle Wednesday and later joined his teammates on the practice field without participating.

Blasingame was the only player who is injured and rejoined practice Wednesday.

Jenkins is always a concern because of his history with neck and back injuries. He missed most of his rookie year after preseason back surgery and last year suffered a neck injury that left him on season-ending injured reserve.

"I saw him run off the field but I didn't know what happened," offensive coordinator Luke Getsy said after practice. "I didn't see what happened, I don't even know what his injury is at his point."

It's important for Jenkins to be practicing because he changed positions from right guard to left guard.

"Yeah, you know it's important for everybody," Getsy said. "Mike McCarthy taught me that a long time ago. Accountability is availability so that's important for every single person on our team so that's important for Teven as well too."

Another player who sat out a big chunk of practice Wednesday was linebacker Tremaine Edmunds but whatever the issue was he said afterward he's fine.  There obviously was a problem because without Edmunds and Sanborn they were using T.J. Edwards, Noah Sewell and Dylan Cole as the three linebackers in the base defense.

The Bears policy in training camp is not to report an injury to the media unless it's deemed servere enough to keep a player away from the field for a while, the term "a while" being the key word here. Coach Matt Eberflus hasn't really explained how long this is.

Soft tissue injuries like hamstrings or groin muscle pulls are not usually reported. So, in essence, no news is good news with an injury for the Bears.

The Johnson return is an example as he has missed only a few practices and appears close to a return.

However, word on the injuries must come from Eberflus and he wasn't scheduled to talk to media on Wednesday. So, in essence, any of these injuries to players besides Johnson and Blasingame—Jenkins, Sanborn, Jones and Walker—could turn out to be serious and they won't be reported by the Bears until after the next practice, which is Friday.

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