LAKE FOREST, Ill. (670 The Score) -- Bears rookie Tyler Scott only moved from running back to wide receiver as a freshman at Cincinnati, and enhanced his game by studying the best players in the NFL.
Scott now can learn first-hand from Bears teammate DJ Moore, whom he sees as one of the best route runners in the game. It has proven to be important for the 21-year-old Scott, who is fighting for a key role in the Bears’ offense.
“He’s just so in control of what’s going on around him,” Scott said of Moore. “You can tell, he knows when to tempo himself, when to speed up. He’s just one step ahead of everything. He kind of sees things before it happens. Just watching him and trying to figure out, how does he try to pick his spots when he uses his abilities to gear things up?
“He just seems to have a feel for what’s going on around him. Really since I came in, just watching him from OTAs on, the biggest thing I've been trying to get is how can I get that controlled tempo that he has? Just being one step ahead of everything. For him, it’s experience. You can’t teach experience.
“I didn’t realize how good he was until I actually got in front of him. I always heard about him around the league, DJ Moore being the guy. But now, finally being able to see it live in person, he just does stuff and I just laugh. Like, ‘Gosh, did he just catch that?’ It pisses me off. But it’s really cool to see something like that.”
A fourth-round pick to the Bears, Scott became a fascinating prospect in the NFL Draft because of his top-flight speed. He was running track at the age of 5 and sprinting in the Junior Olympics before the age of 10. He applied that speed at Cincinnati, emerging as a promising prospect at wide receiver. Ten of Scott's 14 touchdowns over the last two seasons went for 30 yards or more.
Moore, 26, was acquired by the Bears in their blockbuster March trade that sent the No. 1 overall pick to the Panthers. He arrived to Chicago as the team’s new top target for quarterback Justin Fields.
"The biggest thing is you love to see the trust between the quarterback and receiver,” Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy said of Moore's development. “They've done a really nice job developing that pretty quickly. That's not an easy thing to do.
“Hopefully as the season goes along, he'll find that nice groove and we'll even see a better version than we see already.”
Injury report
Bears wide receiver Chase Claypool did not practice on Thursday morning after pulling himself out of drills Wednesday with an apparent hamstring issue.
The Bears continued to practice without right guard Nate Davis and linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, who each have undisclosed injuries. Coach Matt Eberflus indicated that neither of those injuries are considered long-term issues.
Chris Emma covers the Bears, Chicago’s sports scene and more for 670TheScore.com. Follow him on Twitter @CEmma670.
Listen live to 670 The Score via:
Audacy App | Online Stream | Smart Speaker