One-on-one with Chicago Bears lineman Teven Jenkins
CHICAGO (CBS) – The Chicago Bears offense will look to keep it rolling this Sunday against the Detroit Lions.
CBS 2's Matt Zahn spoke one-on-one with one of the standouts on the line.
The O-line has been in flux almost all season and that's including Teven Jenkins. The second-year tackle moved to guard in the preseason, was rotating at left guard with Lucas Patrick before finally locking down the position.
Jenkins' solid play at a new position has been key to this offense's success. Here's what he had to say about the team's running success and what it's like to block for Justin Fields.
Zahn: "I'm assuming you never saw yourself playing guard at this point in the season, right?"
Jenkins: "No, I don't think I was assuming guard anytime soon for my career, but hey, a lot of things happen. Like I've always been saying, I'll do whatever's best for the team."
Zahn: "What's been the key for you getting comfortable in there and playing well?"
Jenkins: "I would say accepting coaching and not being too hard on myself … being able to adapt and listen to my coaches and trust what they're saying and going out there and actually trusting my technique and still have the same physicality that I want to play with."
Zahn: "What pride do you take in how well this team has run the ball?"
Jenkins: "We take a lot of pride in that. That's our bread and butter. That'll set up the passing game. A lot of people have to respect it. We're averaging the most rushing yards in the NFL right now. It does help when you have a mobile quarterback who can do both. So it gives the defense a little extra threat."
Zahn: "You mentioned your mobile quarterback. What is it like blocking for a guy like Justin Fields?"
Jenkins: "It's great because the defense doesn't know what to do half the time. They have to respect the run on Justin for like half our runs because we're starting to use it more. Even in the passing game, he has a hell of an arm.
"There's a lot of ways we can attack the defense."
Zahn: "When he's scrambling, what do you try to do?"
Jenkins: "Buy time, as much as I can. One thing you have to have in the back of your mind is, when he does start to scramble, you have to lose your grip at a certain time, because the defender will start to flop, do all that. He'll try to make it so it's like 'Hey ref, look at me!' There's a lot of holding calls that can get called because you have a scrambling quarterback."