Growing pains are inevitable for every rookie who enters the NFL and Chicago Bears wide receiver Zavion Thomas is going through that early on in training camp.
Thomas has been a standout all offseason long after routinely making plays during practices. In fact, he was one of the biggest standouts over the course of both OTAs and minicamp. He has been so good that it’s easy to forget he’s still just a rookie.
But things haven’t gone as smoothly for Thomas early on in training camp, as the rookie had some miscues on Day 2 that included a fumbled exchange and multiple drops.
“Up-and-down day for Zavion Thomas,” former Bears tight end and Chicago Sports Network analyst Clay Harbor wrote. “Had an early fumbled exchange and a couple drops, but responded the right way with a nice route and catch against Malik Muhammad late. That’s what you want to see from a rookie.”
Knowing what we know about the development of rookies, no one should be surprised at Thomas’ hiccups. What matters is that he learns from them and bounces back, and it appears he quickly did that after his mistakes on Thursday.
Zavion Thomas is everywhere
Chicago Bears wide receiver Zavion Thomas. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Thomas was very busy on Day 2.
As ESPN’s Courtney Cronin noted, Thomas received reps with the first-, second- and third-team offenses, at kick returner, and based on Harbor’s note, the Bears are handing the ball off to the rookie as well. On Day 1, Thomas was getting looks as a punt returner, also.
What’s very clear is the Bears are exploring every way possible to get the ball in Thomas’ hands and get him involved, and for good reason — he has exceptional speed and can be a dangerous playmaker.
But Thomas’ ability to earn a role won’t solely be dependent on his physical abilities. He’s got to nail down the playbook, also.
“He’s got a long highlight reel in terms of showcasing that speed in the SEC,” head coach Ben Johnson said of Thomas at mandatory minicamp. “He tends to make a play almost every single day right now that says ‘OK, if we can harness all of this energy and make sure that we can trust him and he’s going to align where he needs to and run the route the way we need him to, that we really could use him and he could be a big weapon for us this year.'”
“So this is a tough system. It’s going to be a challenge for him to break through quickly (on offense),” general manager Ryan Poles said after the draft. “I think we feel really good about the return ability that he has. And then he’ll be with the rest of the guys to learn the offense, how does he do that, how fast does he come along? We all talk to our receivers and it’s a challenging system.
“So, maybe that role starts small and grows over time. But I don’t want to put a cap on that. If he comes in and downloads fast and he’s up and running, we’ll see what happens.”
The deck is very stacked against Thomas being Chicago’s No. 3 wide receiver, and that’s especially true with Kalif Raymond and Jahdae Walker standing in his way. Raymond in particular has come out of the gate red hot at training camp.
But if Thomas can earn the trust of the coaching staff, you can bet Johnson will find a way to get the ball in his hands.
Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow