Bears offensive lineman Teven Jenkins has been the subject of trade reports dating back to early August. Even after Jenkins found new life at right guard, both NFL insiders Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport believed the Bears would trade Jenkins.
Jenkins admitted that those trade reports, along with rumors of him clashing with coaches, left him feeling in a dark place over the last month.
But Bears general manager Ryan Poles cleared up those trade reports once and for all in an interview with The Hoge and Jahns Podcast. Poles said he never called other teams about trading Jenkins, which means it was just noise.
“It actually kind of blew my mind a little bit. So he’s out for a few days, and all of a sudden, there’s, like, trade rumors floating around, and I hadn’t called anybody.
“But what happens in the league is people call you because there’s rumors floating around, like, ‘What are you doing?’ And I’m live, ‘evaluating Teven. We’re seeing how he does.’ So his move to tackle to guard, he’s doing a good job and we’re happy about it. We got to the preseason games to see what it would look like, and he’s doing good.”
NEW on The Hoge & Jahns Podcast: #Bears GM Ryan Poles says he never called other teams about trading Teven Jenkins. He also admitted his communication with Jenkins could have been better. You’re going to want to listen to this episode:https://t.co/eFa3LImYpX pic.twitter.com/bMnFG6QclX
— Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) September 1, 2022
Poles praised Jenkins’ impressive skillset, including his aggressive style of play that’s helped him find new life on the offensive line.
“Physically, he is gifted,” Poles said. “What I love the most is his finish, his strain, his aggressive style that he’s playing with right now, and I hope he keeps it up.”
Poles admitted that he could’ve done a better job communicating with Jenkins. But Poles said he had a conversation with Jenkins that cleared things up.
“I told him, ‘I can improve on communicating better,’ and he said, ‘I can communicate better myself, too.’ But we got on the same page, and it’s good.”
