The Bernstein Brief: A Bad Comparison For The Bears
By Dan Bernstein--
CBSChicago.com senior columnist
(CBS) What's more likely of these two scenarios?
1) Bears rookie receiver Kevin White misses the preseason and possibly some regular-season time with his nebulous shin injury, then gets up to speed slowly. He sees some limited game action as he develops his timing in the offense and works through the usual rookie ups and downs to become a reasonably productive contributor.
2) White makes his debut in the Bears' fifth game, then immediately sets an NFL rookie record for receiving yards in a month. He sets more NFL rookie marks with 90 or more yards in seven straight games and the most receptions in a seven-game span -- just two of the 32 total NFL records for the season. He finishes with 91 catches, 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns in 12 games. He goes to the Pro Bowl, wins the Pro Football Writers' 2014 Offensive Rookie of the Year award and ends up on the cover on Madden NFL 16.
The former is reality, and the latter is Odell Beckham Jr.
Here's Bears receivers coach Mike Groh recent: "Just like we saw Odell Beckham do last year. He missed a lot of time early, and I think he must have stayed engaged mentally, they kept him going, kept him engaged in the meetings, and that's what we've tried to do here. And when he can go there and do it, he's going to do it."
Just stop, coach.
This comparison doesn't help you, the Bears, the fans or Kevin White.
Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score's "Boers and Bernstein Show" in afternoon drive. Follow him on Twitter @dan_bernstein and read more of his columns here.