Jenkins brings edge, chip on shoulder to Bears

Staley Da Bear

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Mar 16, 2019
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"My edge to me is about being able to finish anybody in the dirt," Jenkins said during a Zoom call with the media Friday night after the Bears traded up 13 spots to select him. "I don't care who you are lining up against me, I don't care what you earn against me, I don't care who you are, I'm going to attack you."


Think that Bears fans are going to like this guy?


"Basically, I want to impose my will against another man and use that force against him until he gets worn out and tired," he continued. "And I don't care how long it takes. I'm going to do that 24/7 and I'm going to do that all game."


Describing himself as "an offensive lineman my whole life," Jenkins feels that he's responsible for protecting his quarterback—by any means necessary.


"That's the No. 1 important thing to me," Jenkins said. "I don't even care about anything else. The No. 1 thing I've always learned is you keep your quarterback clean, you always keep him upright, no matter what you have to do: be dirty, hold, whatever you've got to do.


"If anybody hits my quarterback after the play, that's my problem and not his, and that's how I want to carry myself and that's what I want to do and that's the man I have to be."


Jenkins figures to play with even more of an edge in the NFL after not being selected until Day 2 of the draft. Projected as a first-round pick by most analysts, he remained on the board until the Bears moved up to take him at No. 39.


In the trade, they sent picks in the second round (No. 52), third round (No. 83) and sixth round (No. 204) to the Carolina Panthers in exchange for selections in the second round (No. 39) and fifth round (No. 151).


"I feel like, personally, I'm a first-round talent," said Jenkins, a four-year contributor and three-year starter at Oklahoma State, where he played both tackle positions.


"Regardless of where I went, I'm not mad about it. I'm not going to lose any sleep about it … [But] I went to sleep [Thursday night] with the mindset that everybody who passed on me—32 picks—I'm going to have to be able to make sure everybody rues that day they didn't want to pick me. I'm going into every weight room, every weight, doing everything just 200 percent. I don't really care if my body is aching, sore, anything. I'm going to be pushing myself to the max because I want to be able to show everybody I was a Day 1 talent.


"One thing I'm definitely going to do is just keep on putting the effort both on and off the field … and bring the attitude like I did at Oklahoma State and make sure I can prove a lot of people wrong and make sure the Chicago Bears made the right choice with me."
 
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