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.”
The Bears are using Rome Odunze the perfect way.
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.
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@Slip Knotz I agree with you about Eberflus and the defense. But you SAW the difference in the team between when Eberflus was standing back, and when Alan Williams disappeared and Eberflus HAD to coordinate (and manage what his position coaches were teaching). Unfortunately, I think he abandoned his HEAD coaching watch on doing so, because the offense was abysmal under Getsy. If you read my blathering elsewhere, you know that I see EVERY player, and EVERY coach as being important when each team is limited to 53. Saying that any team “doesn’t have talent” is an excuse. The coaches… Read more »
Why don’t we hear a pompous ass talk about why he left Boise state. Did it have something to do with being a lion and his pride. Where one of the student lionesses didn’t want what he was selling. But the King lion wouldn’t take no for an answer.
@Pooch it seems like all you ever do is talk about coaching. But the real reason everyone is excited this year is the perceived injection in talent acquisition. Eberflus is not some changed man IMO, save the beard. Eberflus was being asked to navigate a tank-fest and rebuild and so were the players. The players appreciated the he never called them out for losing on so many plays. We know this team was bankrupt when Poles took ownership and we know Poles decides the roster. I happen to think Eberflus was promoted to this spot because of his great work… Read more »
Wow this site is full of hyenas….LOL… Or sally is a moron that is either bipolar, has cte from too many shots to the head from his fantasy of playing fullback or has a desperate need for negative attention. Thanks for backing me up pooch, beezy, Beardown, Dreddog, jordo. Been riding this azz clown for months now. Never in my life have I ever encountered such a load of BS from one individual that actually knows nothing about the Bears. It’s obviously a mental illness that keeps him from staying on the subject at hand. Love that bloviation line Dredd.
Regarding Rome Odunze, when a team drafts a player, they are committing between millions to hundreds of thousands in money. They are committing space and time. Teaching the players and preparing them as quickly as possible, for the greatest results possible should always be the goal. I just don’t understand what the goal was LAST year. It seems that Eberflus is being more of a HEAD coach this year, and paying greater attention to the entire team, instead of solely the defense. Maybe it’s the Hard Knocks visual perception, but I don’t know how he, or anyone dealt with the… Read more »