WARE, England — A day after the Chicago Bears estimated Teven Jenkins would have been limited had the team practiced, the left guard was sidelined Thursday, opening the possibility he won’t be available for Sunday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Jenkins left last week’s win over the Carolina Panthers late in the second quarter with an ankle injury. The Bears held only a walk-through Wednesday at the countryside resort where they’re staying, more than an hour north of downtown London, so when they listed Jenkins as “limited,” it was guesswork.
He did not participate Thursday as the team practiced in shells on a nicely manicured field adjacent to a golf course and rolling hills. Jenkins, who was questionable last week with a bruised rib, has started the first five games of the season for the first time in his career.
He missed five games because of injury last season and four games in 2022. Back surgery limited him to six games as a rookie in 2021. Jenkins has made 29 career starts, but he didn’t play all of the offensive snaps in 11 of those, including the previous two games.
Bill Murray replaced Jenkins against the Panthers and likely would fill in again, if needed, with Matt Pryor starting at right guard.
“Bill is someone who has worked hard and the results paid off right there,” offensive coordinator Shane Waldron said. “With the way the scenario played out where we needed Bill to step in at left guard, we were able to pick up right where we left off.”
Here are three other things we learned Thursday.
1. The Bears defense enters Week 6 ranked No. 4 in pressure rate at 37.2% yet 25th in blitz rate at 22.7%.
That reflects a couple of things. First, the Bears are doing a good job of winning with their front four, allowing them to play seven in coverage. It also means they’ve been pretty disruptive when they have blitzed.
Obviously, defensive end Montez Sweat has made this a different front seven, but one thing the Bears were counting on when they hired Eric Washington as defensive coordinator in the offseason was that he would help with some wrinkles to unlock the pass rush.
“We’re excited about the production that we’ve gotten from (the blitz), and our foundation is rush and cover starting with our four-man rush,” Washington said. “We like the pressure to complement that. We don’t want to live in that scenario, but we definitely want that to complement what we like to do with our front in coverage.
“It’s just a matter of speed, of timing or making sure we can impact the game without having to deploy a fifth guy. And when we do, we need that person to be an enormous factor.”
Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence was sacked 11 times in the first three games, but they have allowed only one in the last two weeks. The only teams with higher pressure rates than the Bears are the Miami Dolphins (40%), New York Jets (39.2%) and Denver Broncos (38%).
2. Keenan Allen has avoided the injury report for a second week in a row.
Now it’s a waiting game to see when he puts up some big numbers.
Allen had three receptions for 33 yards on six targets last week while playing 61 snaps (81%). He had three catches for 19 yards in the victory over the Los Angeles Rams the week before, and for the season he has 10 receptions for only 81 yards.
Of course he missed two games with plantar fasciitis, but Allen has been a high-volume producer in his career. In his first three games last season for the Los Angeles Chargers, he had 32 receptions for 402 yards.
“He has done an excellent job knowing, hey, the ball hasn’t found him on a couple plays,” Waldron said. “Even last week where there were a couple where he is the primary (target), the coverage plays out a little bit different and Cole (Kmet) is a beneficiary of a big explosive play on one of them.
“Obviously we want to get Keenan involved more. It’s a goal of ours, but there is also going to be the structure of the defense and what they might take away that week. Each week the guys have done a good job knowing that we have multiple guys that have worked hard and deserved to get the rock right there.
“Rome (Odunze) had a big game one time. Cole has a big game. DJ (Moore) has one. (D’Andre) Swift has had a couple. So knowing that Keenan is a big part of our offense and wanting to get him involved — and again, it’s that fine line of pressing to get him involved but also knowing that he’s going to do a good job like he always does of doing things right, showing up every single day and working to get on the same page … and then leading to the results on the field.”
The Bears should have success throwing the ball Sunday. The Jaguars have allowed 24 pass plays of 20 or more yards this season — nearly five per game.
3. Cornerback Tyrique Stevenson popped up on the injury report.
Stevenson was limited Thursday with a calf issue. The Bears are a little thin at cornerback as Terell Smith (hip) did not make the trip and will miss a second consecutive game. The good news is nickel cornerback Kyler Gordon, who was estimated as limited on Wednesday’s report, was a full participant in practice.
Jaylon Jones projects as the top backup on the outside, and Josh Blackwell also could be in the mix. The Bears are already down one starter in the secondary as Elijah Hicks will start in place of strong safety Jaquan Brisker (concussion).
