Team chemistry is vital to success. Anybody who watches professional sports knows this. However, it is also highly competitive. There are only so many starting jobs on an NFL roster, and everybody wants to play. One can understand if the Chicago Bears insisted rookie Rome Odunze accept his role as the #3 receiver. D.J. Moore and Keenan Allen are stars. Based on their track records, they’ve earned the primary share of the workload in the passing game. Odunze should sit back and learn from them.
Head coach Matt Eberflus and his staff don’t seem keen on that approach. He has said from the beginning he believes in healthy competition across the roster. Guys should be pushing each other every day. According to Courtney Cronin of ESPN, Bears coaches have been nudging Odunze not to be satisfied with the status quo. Moore and Allen might be veterans who deserve respect. However, that doesn’t give them any right to feel comfortable. The rookie should absolutely be gunning for their jobs.
“I think he’s very capable of doing all those things [that Moore and Allen contribute]. I do,” coach Matt Eberflus said. “I’ve said that before. He can chunk a lot of information.
“We are able to move those guys around … that’s really going to be beneficial to our scheme.”
Odunze’s sights are set on far bigger goals than being the No. 3 receiver in the Bears offense, and his coaches embrace that.
“We just talked about that …hey, don’t get comfortable being in that role,” Bears wide receivers coach Chris Beatty said. “Like, you should be trying to take these guys’ spot.”
Remember, it isn’t Eberflus’ job to make players feel comfortable. His job is to make them play their best football. One of the oldest methods of making this happen is by making guys worried they might lose their spots if they don’t produce because a younger guy is right behind them, ready for an opportunity. Hall of Fame coach Bill Walsh was notorious for this approach. He did it to Joe Montana when trading for Steve Young in 1987. Montana responded with the best four-year stretch of his career. The Packers did it with both Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers. We all know how that worked out.
Competitors bring out their best when they’re pushed. The Bears seem to think, rightfully so, that having Rome Odunze actively try to push for more targets will light a fire under Moore and Allen. It will urge the rookie to get better as quickly as possible and remind the two veterans that they aren’t being paid for past accomplishments. The NFL was, is, and will always be a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately league. It’s a cold reality smart teams learn to embrace.
