Bears' receivers continue to show improvement
Say what you want about the Bears' wide receivers - and early in the season they heard just about everything - but no position on the team showed greater improvement this year.
They are the tiny acorns that can grow into mighty oaks.
But, if there are sweeping coaching changes at the end of this season, even if they're limited to the offensive side of the ball, how will that affect a young group of receivers still learning to play together in the current scheme and with a new quarterback in Jay Cutler?
"I don't even think that far ahead," wide receivers coach Darryl Drake said when asked about speculation on job security. "Right now everything's in place for the way we want it, and we feel good about the way things are.
"We keep working and continuing to improve. I don't even speculate; I don't even want to. We've got Detroit, and we're going to try to get better against Detroit and see what happens."
Of the Bears' top four wideouts, they have a rookie (Johnny Knox), a second-year player (Earl Bennett), a third-year player (Devin Aromashodu) with a total of four NFL starts, and a fourth-year player (Devin Hester) who has been a full-time receiver for just two seasons.
The across-the-board improvement this year is unmistakable. Hester has 3 more catches and 17 more receiving yards than last season, even though he has missed the past three games and half of two others. Bennett has 51 receptions for 690 yards after failing to catch a pass last season as a rookie.
Aromashodu had 7 catches for 96 yards in two previous NFL seasons. Monday night he had 7 catches for 150 yards, the most for any player in the NFL in Week 16.
Knox will miss the final game with a sprained ankle, but the fifth-round pick already has proved to be one of the steals of the 2009 draft with 45 catches for 527 yards and 5 TDs. He also was chosen as a second alternate for the Pro Bowl as a kick returner.
Based on the overall inexperience, all of them figure to improve.
"We're going to be better," Cutler said, "there's no doubt about it. Just looking at the film of the last game, they're doing things that are going to help us out in the long run.
"They're learning. It's a young group. Even D.A.'s young. He hasn't had a lot of experience. Even though he's been in the league a little bit, he hasn't been out there in live-bullet situations.
"That's what's fun about working with these guys. They're so eager to learn, and they're excited about it. Every little thing you're telling them, they're picking up on it."
Cutler, who's in just his fourth season, has suffered through growing pains with his wide receivers. If a new offensive coordinator is brought in to replace Ron Turner, Cutler will be playing under his third coordinator and third system in three years.
But the quarterback says developing rapport with his targets is more important than scheme.
"It's not in my hands, not in my control," he said of coaching changes. "Scheme-wise, you learn it. If we have to change schemes, we have to change schemes.
"I don't think that's a bigger issue than me just knowing the little things of how they are going to react in game situations and what I'm going to do in game situations.
"Once we hammer that down, if we call something a different concept, we call it a different concept. It's not an issue. I'm not really worried about."
Turner is trying to have the same attitude regarding his job status.
"I haven't even thought about it," he said. "I've got a contract that says I'm going to be here. I've got another year, and I plan on fulfilling that.
"I'm looking forward to trying to figure out a way to go out and play well and build on the success we had last week and beat Detroit and go from there."
<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=347726">Cutler appreciates any moral support<span class="date"> [12/31/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>