Why Bears Coaches Suddenly Can Trust in Anthony Miller

Bears receivers coach Mike Furrey says in last year's opener, coaches' thinking on receiver Anthony Miller was "you can't trust him"

Never had the developmental process of wide receiver Anthony Miller been spelled out so clearly.

Chicago Bears coaches throughout the past year repeatedly said they saw a different Miller in the second half of last season, someone who figured out the pro game.

The stats said as much as he had only four catches for 28 yards at the quarter point of the season.

It's the spark for it all which no one had really described before wide receivers coach Mike Furrey made it so clear during a Zoom teleconference with reporters this past week.

"The first quarter to half of the season last year, I just don't think from a maturity standpoint, preparation standpoint, that Anthony was 100 percent all in," Furrey said. "He still had that college mentality that ability was gonna allow him to overcome whatever he wanted to overcome in games. As we all know, as you (reporters) have all seen, talent can only get you so far when you get to the pros."

It was never more clear than the Green Bay game to open the season. After an offseason shoulder surgery and a training camp/preseason when he missed practice time with an ankle injury, Miller came out and got on the field against the Packers for only 15 plays. They threw one pass his way, a deep fourth-quarter pass that missed the mark.

"He wasn't on the field a lot," Furry said. "Obviously in the Packers game, you go back and we're watching the Packers game sitting there thinking, 'One of our best players is not on the field, and the reason why is because you can't trust him.' "

After getting shut out by the Eagles and held to one 7-yard catch by Detroit at Soldier Field, Miller made his stand and

 made 33 catches for 430 yards in the next five games. That included two 100-yard efforts.

"You've gotta start learning the details of what you’re supposed to do, the quarterback's gotta trust you'll be where you're supposed to be, so I just think he was really lacking in those areas," Furry said.

The spark came simply from criticism. Coaches, fans, media, everyone was being critical. Miller responded, even in walk-throughs he has become more involved.

"He gets in meetings, he can respond, he can communicate," Miller said. "He's not tucking his hat down and (giving) one-word answers—it's sentences now, it's responses.

"He's talking with A-Rob (Allen Robinson II). He's trying to learn. He's dropped the ego of this whole Memphis thing. Now he's coming here learning from Allen Robinson, asking Allen Robinson, watching Allen Robinson, watching other guys from other teams in the offseason on his iPad, just learning what they do."

Will the maturity continue is the big question? There's a very good personal reason to expect it.

"Obviously he just had a son here a couple weeks ago," Furry said. "The maturity level, that helps us all grow up. There's a lot of things that factor in his life that have allowed him to do that. I think when he looks back and starts seeing some things that he could’ve done in the past and maybe if he would’ve grown up a little bit how much better he would've been, and now he has that opportunity again."

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