The NFL is finally in full swing with the league already entered into their second week following the Lions' defeat at the hands of the Buffalo Bills. The Chicago Bears first regular season game saw some historic point scoring, and the Bears walked away with the victory, but one name was noticeably missing from the score sheet.
Many thought that after his excellent preseason performance and training camp reporting that Zavion Thomas would perhaps take a bigger role for the Bears than expected. His display of speed and agility was something to behold on preseason special teams, but Kalif Raymond handled the only punt return during Week 1, whereas Josh Blackwell took the kickoffs.
Richard Hightower, the Bears special teams coordinator, gave us an update on plans for Thomas moving into Week 2.
“When you take a look at that game, they definitely were kicking the ball away from him,” Hightower said. “We want the ball in his hands, so we’re going to do everything we can to get the ball in his hands. He’s got to go get some of those, and we’re going to make sure that he is working to do that. They definitely tried to pin it in the corner and keep it away from him. I haven’t seen that this early on, but it is what it is.”
Zavion Thomas is already influencing games without touching the ball
Thomas' brilliant performance in his preseason appearances immediately drew Devin Hester comparisons, though it's a bit soon for that. But there's no denying that Thomas has a lethal ability to return the ball, and the Carolina Panthers showed that they believed that, too, by kicking away from him.
Thomas only played in a single preseason game, and to be fair, he made it count. But for the opponent to already be planning their special teams strategy around a kid that hadn't taken his first NFL snap yet should tell you something.
Regardless of the reason, we're talking about the NFL here. If Thomas' abilities aren't exaggerated, as many players have been in preseason showings, the Bears need to get him in the game. If the Bears are to uphold coach Johnson's mission of the highest scoring of all time, they'll need to use every weapon they have, including the third round returner out of LSU.
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