Receiver Opportunity Knocks at Bears Camp
For every action in an NFL training camp, there is reaction.
The Bears have put Chase Claypool on the active/physically unable to perform list and while he can return at any time there is this problem—he's hurt.
Claypool had a soft tissue injury back during OTAs and minicamp, had almost six weeks since then to recover, and after working at the Justin Fields volunteer weekend in Florida for receivers and QBs, he is still injured.
Coach Matt Eberflus was asked as minicamp ended whether it was safe to assume both Darnell Mooney and Claypool would return for the start of camp. Mooney has been out rehabbing his ankle injury all off-season, but appeared in off-season work on Twitter video practicing extensively with Fields so it would appear he's ready.
"So we're 40-some days away from that right now and we believe they are," Eberflus said. "So we'll see how it goes. And of course there could be delays or setbacks. I don't know. I'm not a doctor. But right now they're telling me it's all a green light."
Now its red light for Claypool.
This is significant considering Claypool had a knee injury last December and missed two games, so his exposure to the Bears offense isn't as great as it could be. The weeks on the field in the spring could have helped immensely in timing with Fields, and in knowing the offense better.
So watching on the sideline will not be of benefit for Claypool but neither would playing injured.
Without Claypool in the offense, it's no benefit to Fields because he eventually needs to build better ties with the former Steelers receiver.
The reaction to the action is someone does benefit, because a training camp is all about competition. Here's who benefits from Claypool's absence.
WR Tyler Scott
Scott, their fourth-round pick from Cincinnati, can benefit most because he normally would be buried on the depth chart otherwise. Any type of move to get him in a better position to face better competition in practice speeds up his development. Scott might not be the fourth receiver and line up now with starters, but he's going to get to face more second-team defense and that helps him grow up.
This can't hurt considering what they saw in him at OTAs and minicamp.
"His speed shows up, his suddenness shows up, and his moves and run after the catch show up," receivers coach Tyke Tolbert said. "He can catch a ball, make a guy miss, turn around, get going really fast, like zero to 60. Obviously he has deep speed.
"And his knowledge, he doesn’t make the same mistake twice. There are some things that we put in, everything's new to him, and we'll put in something that's new and he doesn't make the same mistake twice. That's always a good sign for any player, much less receiver."
Combine those traits with a chance to get more practice time against better defenders and it would be easier to see Scott turning into a rookie who does more than play special teams or be a game-day inactive.
WR Velus Jones Jr.
The desire is to have their third-round pick from last year playing at a higher level than last year when he didn't seem to understand the offense,
"But when he gets out there, he hears the play now," Tolbert said. "He lines up really fast and knows what he's doing. I think it's the confidence in knowing what to do, because he would tell you himself, last year he was like a deer in the headlights a lot of the times.
"Now he knows what to do, he answers all the questions in the meetings, then he gets onto the field and knows how to go out there and execute it."
Jones' 4.31-second speed in the 40 can't be duplicated by anyone in this receiver corps. If he gets more reps now in practice where Claypool would have been, or with starters because Darnell Mooney is playing where Claypool would have been, then it can only keep his attempt to avoid looking like that deer in the headlights.
Equanimeous St. Brown
St. Brown knows the offense better than anyone in the Halas Hall wide receiver room since he played in it at Green Bay, then started every single game last year. He was one of the players bumped down a notch to reserve duty with the acquisition of DJ Moore.
However, with both Mooney and Claypool missing spring practices, St. Brown got even more time with the first team and kept working with Fields. At 6-foot-5, 214 pounds, and with 4.48-second speed, St. Brown got more time on the field on offense than any season with Green Bay. In fact, he had more time than his last two seasons with the Packers combined. His problem seemed in execution as he had a critical fourth-down drop against the Dolphins and didn't get open enough to do better than a 55.3% catch percentage. But more time with starters at camp, working with Fields is only going to reinforce the experience he built last year within the offense.
Dante Pettis
They signed him late. It wasn't even certain Pettis would return and as such he lost his No. 18 jersey number to free agent tight end Robert Tonyan, who signed while he was off the roster. However, once he returned the value of his season within the offense was obvious and he practiced with starters in OTAs and minicamp while Claypool and Mooney were away.
It's assumed by many that Pettis is well down the pecking order but the experience does count for something even if he had trouble hanging onto the ball last year. Pettis had a 46.3% catch ratio. He had the same issue in his second season with San Francisco and wound up getting waived in Year 3.
Can more practice with starters and top backups while Claypool is away benefit Pettis now? This seems unlikely in his sixth season. However, working with Tolbert in New York he was able to get his percentage up to 66.7 before coming to Chicago. A season with more offensive familiarity and more practice time with starters can't hurt him.
The degree to which it helps him to get more playing time with Claypool away is open to debate but there's no doubt it can't hurt him.
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven