Chicago Bears: Kevin White needs to handle pressure better
After playing in just four games over two years with the Chicago Bears, Kevin White needs to understand that he needs to play well in 2017.
When the Chicago Bears drafted wide receiver Kevin White with the seventh overall pick of the 2015 NFL Draft, hopes were high at Halas Hall. At 6-3, 220 pounds, he had the size to make catches over defensive backs. Displaying a 4.35-second 40-yard dash in the NFL Combine, he had the speed to run past them as well. The Bears expected him and Alshon Jeffery to be a dynamic combination on the field.
Two years later, however, White has played in just four games and suffered two leg injuries and Jeffery is now in Philadelphia. They never got to be that great tandem general manager Ryan Pace and the coaching staff expected to have. White is still in Chicago, but how much longer that stays true is a big question.
White needs to understand that the pressure is squarely on him this season. Yes, there are other wide receivers, but he is the Bears’ first-round pick. He is supposed to be the top guy. Having an underwhelming career so far just highlights the pressure he’ll be under by his coaches, the media, and the fans.
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This is why him getting into a public disagreement with his wide receivers coach, and being upset about it is a wrong approach for him to take.
By most accounts, White had a great practice on Aug. 2. Listening to him afterward, though, you’d think differently. Bears wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni told the media earlier (per ESPN) that he and White went over White’s college game film. He said he wanted to remind White how dominant he really is:
"“This morning me and him watched his West Virginia highlight film again. He forgets about that sometime because of the battle he’s had the last two years. He’s had a really good three days. I’m pleased with him. First day was great, second day was OK, today he comes back out and he’s buying in. It’s still a process, but he’s buying in. You see flashes of what we want him to be, of what he wants to be. We’ve just got to block out the noise for him.”"
Seems like something innocuous, right? It’s just a coach trying to get a player back to dominating again.
Well, for some reason it upset White and he made an effort to dispute the story, per Adam Jahn of the Chicago Sun-Times:
"As far as the college film, that was amongst players: me, Kendall Wright and Victor Cruz. It was actually Kendall’s idea to watch each other’s college film since we had a little time off. Watched mine, then watched Kendall’s, then watched Victor Cruz, when he was with the Giants. As far as that goes, that’s all I know…We just wanted to watch each other’s college film, just reminiscing. Nothing [to it]."
If this is how White reacts during training camp, how will he react if he has a bad game? This is his coach trying to get the best out of him. Imagine when the media descends upon him, dissecting his play and/or his words?
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White cannot let the pressure get to him. He must know that yes, this is an important season, but at the same time control that pressure and his emotions. Just go out and play and all the other stuff disappears. He cannot let this snowball into something bigger. White dominated defenders in college. Now he needs to dominate his feelings before he succeeds on the field again.