Jenkins surgery saddens fans, draws comps to Chris Williams originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
In an offseason filled with plenty of bad injury news, the Bears and Matt Nagy delivered the worst news so far on Wednesday when they announced rookie tackle Teven Jenkins would undergo surgery to try to fix his ailing back. Unsurprisingly, fans on Twitter were devastated.
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In addition to the Kevin White comp, fans also brought up the eerie similarities to Chris Williams’ bumpy start to his career.
For those that don’t remember, Williams was a Bears first-round draft pick in 2008. But according to contemporary reports, he was pulled out of the second practice of his rookie training camp early with back stiffness. Then, in early August, the team announced Williams had surgery to repair a herniated disc. He ended up playing 50 games for the Bears, starting 38 of them, before losing his job to J’Marcus Webb and being cut in 2012.
There’s a bit of thread connecting Jason Peters to Orlando Pace, as well. In 2009, the Bears signed Pace to play left tackle, and slid Williams over to right tackle. But Pace looked like a shell of himself in Chicago, according to contemporary reports, and he was cut one year later. Time will tell how Peters looks, as he’s set to practice at Halas Hall for the first time later this week.
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