Last season, Tyler Scott was a rookie with particular intrigue in a Bears offense desperate for a productive wide receiver. With his 4.37 speed in the 40, he was a fourth-round draft pick with the chance to be the next Darnell Mooney, or better.
A year later, Scott is almost an afterthought in training camp. With DJ Moore, Keenan Allen and first-round rookie Rome Odunze, the Bears no longer need to count on a mid-round draft pick overachieving to fill their passing-game needs.
But Scott is undaunted by the more-complicated challenge of finding a role in Shane Waldron’s offense.
“This was just kind of another ‘Welcome to the NFL [moment],” Scott said. “‘You’ll get drafted, but guess what? We’ll bring in more guys.’ It wasn’t really a conflicting thing. It was more like, ‘OK, cool. I can’t control what they do upstairs. They have a job to do and that’s to put the best group of guys together.’
“I’m like, ‘well, I’m still here.’ They drafted me for a reason. So I just get more opportunities to maximize every single one of my reps. It makes me home in on each individual rep and understand that each rep is so important, because you might not be getting as many reps as the core three guys.”
Scott has had his share of opportunities in training camp and made two receptions of note so far. Both of them were downfield throws from rookie quarterback Caleb Williams — though he appeared miffed that he stumbled on a 40-yard play Tuesday that could have been a touchdown had he been able to keep his balance.
"He's put his head down and worked hard," Waldron said. "You can see his twitchiness, his speed that he can use to get into the defense. He's done a great job as far as his knowledge of the playbook and the system. He's right in the mix and making some nice plays in practice and ready to go, and he'll have his shot."
Scott, who had 17 receptions for 168 yards and no touchdowns in 439 offensive snaps (39% of the team total) last season, is motivated by the increased competition. “Since I’ve been little, my mindset’s always been [that] I’m the best player on the field no matter who’s out there,” he said.
But he’s also a realist, and knows the value of making the most of his role.
“I love LeBron [James] and one thing I’ve learned from watching him is he’s successful when he has a great group of guys who are stars in their roles,” Scott said. “J.R. Smith was that knockdown guy. Tristan Thompson, rebound guy. I remember he got paid just off that year because he could rebound. He was a star in his role. There’s one ball and there’s different guys on the floor, but everyone has a job and everyone can perfect their game in a different way.”
Former Alabama coach Nick Saban was at Halas Hall on Tuesday and met with coach Matt Eberflus in his office for more than two hours, a source said. Saban, 72, retired in January after winning seven national championships.
Their relationship goes back to 1990, when Eberflus played linebacker at University of Toledo and Saban was his head coach.
Eberflus referred to Saban as a mentor in his introductory press conference and credited him teaching Eberflus “how to come into an organization and change the culture and change the mindset.”
The Bears will practice in pads for the first time Friday — a much anticipated step up in the training camp process, especially for the linemen.
“D-linemen, o-linemen, we can’t do what we do in the summer,” defensive tackle Andrew Billings said. “[Defensive backs], they do all their little stuff and the routes are full speed. We need this. This pads is serious before we get to the games.”
Cornerback Kyler Gordon did not practice Thursday because of leg tightness after being limited on Tuesday.
Left tackle Braxton Jones and linebacker T.J. Edwards were limited. Eberflus said he anticipates Jones being able to participate in padded practices.
Contributing: Jason Lieser
