Chicago Bears: Jason Peters signing a bad omen for Teven Jenkins

In the Chicago Bears’ first preseason game on Saturday, one major thing was evident: Justin Fields is the real deal.

Besides the play of Fields though, another clear takeaway was the fact that the guys playing in front of him were missing some pieces. The Bears’ offensive line didn’t have starters Teven Jenkins, James Daniels or Germain Ifedi.

Thus, for the majority of the game, Bears quarterbacks didn’t have a lot of time. Specifically, Fields had to use his legs quite a bit — and he made Miami pay.

Almost immediately following the game, however, the Bears announced a big signing. Chicago agreed to terms with 9-time Pro Bowl tackle Jason Peters. The longtime Philadelphia Eagle and 2-time All Pro admitted after the 2020 season that he still had some football left in him. So, the Bears are taking their chance.

If Jason Peters is coming in to compete for the Chicago Bears’ left tackle spot, that could be bad news for another lineman.

Rookie second-round pick Teven Jenkins has yet to participate in training camp due to a back issue — one that head coach Matt Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace knew about back before the draft.

With Peters agreeing to terms, one would think that this is bad news for Jenkins, who is now a candidate to end up on the short-term IR. Although it might seem that way, Nagy admits the opposite.

While Nagy insists that the signing of Peters doesn’t mean Jenkins is out long-term, it still seems that way. Either Jenkins is eventually going on IR and will return in six weeks, or the Bears want to try Jenkins at RT when he’s healthy.

But, something odd is going on. If Nagy views Peters as the starting left tackle, then something is going to happen with either Jenkins or current starter Germain Ifedi. Or, maybe Ifedi is going to be out longer with his own injury.

Quite frankly, we don’t know. But, if we’re all being honest, we better hope Jenkins and Ifedi get healthy soon. Signing an offensive tackle of this age feels a bit deceiving for Bears fans. Remember the last time the Bears signed a former All Pro tackle?

Anybody remember the Orlando Pace experiment? That did not end well, and Peters’ situation feels eerily similar.

In Peters’ last game with the Eagles, he gave up five pressures, three hurries and a sack in 36 snaps. He ended up playing in only eight games last season due to a nagging toe injury.

The best-case scenario in all of this is that Peters is healthy. If that proves to be true, then the Bears at least have a formidable veteran starting at left tackle who didn’t commit a single penalty all of last season. Regardless, all does not feel well for the Bears’ rookie lineman.