2015 provides ups for Jarvis Jenkins, downs for Jermon Bushrod

Needless to say, 2015 was an up-and-down year for the Bears organization, with individual players falling far on both sides of the spectrum.

For the good, look at Jarvis Jenkins. The fifth-year defensive tackle signed with the Bears on one of Ryan Pace's one-year 'prove-it' deals, a sense of urgency he admitted he needed after how things ended for him in Washington, where he struggled to bounce back from an ACL tear as a rookie and ended up not being re-signed by the team that drafted him in the second round.

In his first year with the Bears, Jenkins broke out for his best year yet. His 4 sacks rank fifth on the team and are twice as many as he had in his career entering the year. He's one of only five players on the team to have started all 15 games so far.

Earlier this season, Jenkins said he felt like he'd let himself down in Washington, that he "should have been a better pro." In reflecting on his season in Chicago on Friday, he mostly had good things to say.

"This is one of the best seasons I've had statistically-wise, and there was a lot of plays I definitely did leave out there that I should have made," said Jenkins, who has been dealing with an ankle injury and an illness but said he hopes to play Sunday against the Lions.

"But at the end of the day, man, this has been like a family-oriented place more than anywhere I've been. Obviously, I've been in Washington before this, but being here, it's like no other. Just the guys, the camaraderie, just wanting to play for guys. Just guys actually helping you even though they're playing the same position or not. I feel very family-oriented. I definitely want to be back here next year. Hopefully things work out and I do."

Of course a 6-9 team saw plenty of players turn in a 2015 they'd like to have back. Jermon Bushrod, for example, went from a starting left tackle, which he'd been for six straight seasons, to a sixth lineman. He dealt with regular back issues and also went through the league's concussion protocol, at which point second-year Charles Leno Jr. took over his spot and never relinquished it.

Bushrod has been active in helping to groom Leno, saying he owed it to the league to pay it forward the way other veterans once did for him in New Orleans. He's earned snaps as an extra lineman and has remained a leader in the locker room. It's what he felt he needed to give when the rest of his 2015 failed to go as planned.

"As frustrating as it is individually for me, I really had to fight, put my competitiveness aside and kind of put my ego to the side and just realize that, look, this is a business, this is the situation that's going on now, and all I can do is help out the process," Bushrod, 31, said Friday. "Honestly, it's helped me out a lot in the fact that I have people in my family, friends, wife that I can lean on and talk things out."

"… At the end of the day, I still have a great job."

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