Bears wide receivers out to prove naysayers wrong

Bears wide receivers must know how rented mules and red-haired stepchildren feel.

They've gotten less respect than Rodney Dangerfield and Aretha Franklin.

Critics near and far have belittled them. They were dissed long distance by Green Bay Packers wide receiver Donald Driver.

"They don't have a receiver," Driver told Tom Waddle and Marc Silverman on the "Waddle & Silvy" show on WMVP 1000-AM. "They don't have any true receivers that step up and play and take their team to where they want to go.

"I love Devin (Hester), and Devin knows that, but Devin plays (defensive back). I don't think he's just a solid receiver right now. He may become one as years go on, but it doesn't happen overnight."

Hester has been anointed the Bears' No. 1 wide receiver, even though he has been playing the position full time for only two years after converting from cornerback. He had 51 catches for 665 yards and 3 touchdowns last season, not exactly prototypical numbers for a go-to guy.

The other starter is Earl Bennett, whose next NFL reception will be his first. Fifth-year veteran Rashied Davis is the most experienced member of the group, but his 35 receptions and 445 yards last season represent his career bests.

Not counting the 30-year-old Davis, who played four years in Arena Football before joining the Bears, no wide receiver on the roster is older than 26 and none besides Hester have done much to speak about in the NFL.

Brandon Rideau has bounced around the league for four years without catching a pass. Devin Aromashodu has 7 catches in three NFL seasons. Juaquin Iglesias and Johnny Knox are rookies picked in the third and fifth round, respectively.

Despite Hester's rare combination of speed, quickness, athleticism and elusiveness, this is not an impressive group on paper.

The only love these guys have gotten is from teammates and coaches.

"We're not worried about it," quarterback Jay Cutler said. "The receivers aren't worried about it. I'm not worried about it. I know (offensive coordinator) Ron (Turner) is not worried about it. We feel comfortable with what we've got.

"If we didn't feel comfortable, I think they would have made a move."

The Bears had many off-season opportunities to pursue established receivers such as Torry Holt, Marvin Harrison and Plaxico Burress, but they decided to stand pat, and that remains their position.

As always, coach Lovie Smith's glass is half full, even if the critics insist the Bears need receiving help.

"If you took a pessimistic view at it, that's what you would probably say," Smith said. "But if you are optimistic and you have faith in the guys like I do, it's like every other position.

"I'm excited about them getting on the football field, having a chance to work with Jay and then just having a chance to catch some balls.

"Every team gets into a (situation) where you don't have a lot of veterans at a position. You give the younger guys a chance to prove what they can do.

"We have some guys who are eager to kind of squash some of this talk that has been going on about the receivers. We have confidence in them. I think after 10 days you're going to like them a lot more than you do now."

The slings and arrows have served as motivation for the Bears' most underappreciated group.

"At the end of the day, I want to be a complete receiver," Hester said. "And at the end of the season, for all the critics saying I'm maybe a third receiver or something like that, I want them to say, 'Yeah, he is capable of being a No. 1 receiver.' "

It's impossible for the Bears' wide receivers not to hear how they've been bad-mouthed the past several months, but that means they will never lack for motivation.

"We just put that in the back of our minds and come out here and work hard," Bennett said. "We know what we have to do. We have to come out and produce and try to prove people wrong."

But some players have grown weary of catching so much flak. Davis was so irked the other day that he apparently got his senses crossed up.

"I don't even listen to what you guys write," he said. "It is what it is."

But Hester says it's not worth getting upset over.

"If you're trying to play and you try to get into all that (criticism), then you're going to run around like a chicken with your head cut off," he said.

"I don't try to get into all that. That's what they say. We know what we have to do, and we're going to go out and play ball. At the end of the day, we let our playing speak for itself."

The critics will be listening.