Ifedi on pushing Teven Jenkins: 'It's just tough love'
Bears right tackle Germain Ifedi sees the potential in rookie left tackle Teven Jenkins. He likes his aggression. He likes the passion.
"I love the kid," Ifedi said.
He just doesn't like when that passion costs the Bears yardage and field position.
Many Bears fans noticed when Ifedi pushed Jenkins during Monday night's loss to Minnesota. After quarterback Justin Fields took a questionably late hit, Jenkins ran over and confronted Vikings defensive lineman D.J. Wonnum. After a heated discussion with several Vikings, a discussion that included some pushing and shoving, the refs flagged Jenkins for unsportsmanlike conduct.
The television broadcast caught Ifedi pushing Jenkins, twice, after the penalty.
"I understood why he was upset," Ifedi said. "I understood why he kind of went over there and did what he did."
Ifedi noted that he was in Jenkins' shoes when he was younger, and he has drawn similar penalties. The penalty, which had been on a first-and-10 play at the Bears' own 25-yard line, went for 12 yards - half the distance from the goal line.
Ifedi didn't like that Jenkins' actions put the Bears offense in a bad spot, a second-and-22. Ifedi noted that there's no play in the playbook for making up 22 yards. The Bears offensive line had a lengthy, and passionate, discussion on the bench immediately after that drive ended.
"The message I sent to him, and what I talked to him about, is there's no good situation to cost the team in any scenario," Ifedi said. "No matter how upset you are, you can't do it. Look, I've been that guy in my career getting bad penalties. It may look like you're doing it because of this and that. But at the end of the day, it hurts you and it hurts the team."
Bears head coach Matt Nagy said Wednesday that the offensive line has moved on from the minor confrontation. The coach blamed neither Jenkins nor Ifedi.
Ifedi didn't go back and watch the replay. He said he didn't have to because he was there, he knows what he did and he wouldn't change it.
"It was just tough love," Ifedi said. "He's a good kid. We're a close-knit group. So we can hold each other accountable. People can say what they want about how it looked. You know, we're big boys."
Ifedi's start Monday marked his first appearance since a Week 5 matchup Oct. 10 against the Las Vegas Raiders. He suffered an MCL injury in his knee against the Raiders and missed about 10 weeks.
Jenkins has not been made available to the media since the incident.
Bears offensive coordinator Bill Lazor likes what he saw out of Jenkins between the whistles. The rookie performed well in pass blocking. He was penalized two other times, once for a false start and once for holding, but he showed marked improvement from a week earlier, when he was thrown into a game against the Green Bay Packers due to injuries ahead of him on the depth chart.
"Everyone should be excited," Lazor said. "I think if you just highlighted the technique he used and the production he had in his pass (protection), I think everyone should be excited about what they saw happen."