Teven Jenkins came in with lots of support inside Halas Hall as one of their prized 2021 draft picks. It’s incredible to think how fast things can change. Now a new regime is in place with GM Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus. They bring with them a new standard. Poles himself had one in mind for the offensive line, saying he wanted guys to be lighter and quicker. Both are necessary to function in the wide zone offense Luke Getsy plans to install this summer. Jenkins realized he’d have to do some serious work to meet their expectation.
That meant dropping weight. When he came out of Oklahoma State last year, the rookie weighed around 320 lbs. They wanted that to go higher under the direction of offensive line coach Juan Castillo. By the time he returned from his back injury last season, he was 345 lbs. That is way too heavy for a wide zone tackle. For example, Mike McGlinchey in San Francisco weighs 310. Jenkins had work to do.
He shared his results with the media this week.
Dropping 20 lbs before the start of minicamps is pretty impressive. How he pulled it off came in two stages. First was an adjustment to his diet, cutting out alcohol and carbohydrates. Then came the hard part of embracing a new workout that would help trim the pounds. His choice? Pilates. Thanks to the efforts of Superior Pilates in Waukegan, the Bears’ right tackle has a stronger core along with better endurance and balance. While he loves the results, he admits the process has been outright torture.
Teven Jenkins claims he feels 100% going into training camp. His back hasn’t bothered him since returning from surgery last year. Now he’s in even better physical condition than he was before. Power was never a problem in his game. Now try to imagine how much more dangerous he can be now that he is quicker than before. This offense should be a perfect fit for him, and the results will come.
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