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http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/ct-spt-bears-jordan-howard-haugh-20180530-story.html#nt=oft01a-6la1
The shrill sound of a siren blared long enough Wednesday at Halas Hall for the Bears to clear the practice field quickly, alerting everyone to the presence of lightning.
More quietly, Jordan Howard is still around to supply the thunder.
So much focus surrounds the Bears’ new offensive whiz-kid coach Matt Nagy and their franchise-quarterback trainee Mitch Trubisky that it gets easy to overlook Howard, the only running back in team history to begin his career with consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. Howard only needed 24 games to reach 2,000 rushing yards. It took Walter Payton 26.
“It’s pretty cool to be a running back in this organization,’’ said Howard, who has 2,435 career rushing yards on 528 carries. “Walter Payton, Gale Sayers, Thomas Jones, Matt Forte, Neal Anderson …”
Howard’s eyes looked toward the ceiling as he mined his memory for names he might have ignored.
“I don’t want to forget anybody,’’ he said with a smile.
Surely, Anthony Thomas — another no-nonsense former Bears running back Howard compares with nicely — will understand.
Howard knows the feeling. Ask most NFL observers to name the top five running backs in the league and few lists will include the 6-foot-1, 224-pound Howard, a downhill runner offering more substance than style, as underrated as he is overpowering.
“I don’t feel like I get overlooked,’’ Howard said. “It doesn’t bother me.’’
A growing reputation for having bad hands does, so Howard devoted this offseason to changing the perception and reality. According to Pro Football Focus, Howard has dropped 14 of the 76 passes targeted for him in his first two seasons, the worst drop rate among NFL running backs. Some Sundays you wondered if Howard could catch a cab home.
“I realized I needed to work at it,’’ Howard, who has only 52 career receptions.
Howard’s end: Catch everything thrown his way. That vow coincided with new running backs coach Charles London making Howard’s pass-catching a priority. So did Nagy, the former quarterback at Delaware who started joining Howard on the field before organized team activities to work toward the same goal.
“You can tell he was a quarterback,’’ Howard kidded.
But will we be able to tell if Howard catches the ball any better? Until that becomes more obvious, the repetitive question that bugs Howard most will continue to be asked.
“I do get tired of it but I brought it on myself because I haven’t put enough time in working on everything — but now I am,’’ Howard said. “It started being a problem in high school, just not having my hands in the right position. I didn’t work on it that much in college because we didn’t really throw to the backs that much. But I’m going to fix it.’’
A new offense demanding versatility from its running backs excites Howard, offering him an opportunity to evolve into an even more valuable part of the core. For one of the NFL’s best bargains — Howard will make $630,000 in 2018 on a rookie deal that runs through next season — the less he needs to come off the field on passing downs, the more the Bears will entertain the idea of a contract extension.
A more sophisticated offense will help Howard’s cause, limiting the defenses who never respected the Bears passing game. Asked which opponents most successfully stacked the box with an extra safety, Howard immediately named the Buccaneers, Eagles, Lions and Vikings. In those four games, Howard gained 59 yards on 35 carries.
“Defenses can’t focus on one thing anymore,’’ Howard said. “And that’s going to benefit me.’’
A good sign came after April’s NFL draft when Nagy never hesitated in designating Howard the Bears’ featured back.
“Absolutely, yeah,’’ Nagy said.
They were welcome words to a 23-year-old whose offseason has included unwanted attention. In February, Howard created headlines getting baited into guaranteeing a playoff berth on a light-hearted NFL Network segment. In April, he uncomfortably answered questions about Bears pictures being removed from his Instagram account. In-between, the Pro Bowler dealt with trade rumors based on the assumption he fit like a square peg in the round hole of Nagy’s scheme.
Nothing has felt further from the truth early in the Bears’ OTAs process as Howard has learned more about Nagy’s plan to tailor his scheme around his personnel the way smart coaches do.
“It’s pretty similar to what I was doing in college,’’ said Howard, a fifth-round pick out of Indiana. “I feel like my ceiling is pretty high and the more involved I can get in the passing game, it’ll get even higher. I have reached a comfort level in my third year.’’
It shows, especially away from a larger group. Asked during a one-on-one interview about the NFL’s new rule requiring players on the field to stand for the national anthem, for example, Howard opted to express his opinion. In the past, the soft-spoken Alabama native might have passed.
“I feel like they went about it the wrong way, they’re looking at the wrong message,’’ Howard said of the NFL. “I don’t feel like anybody was disrespecting the anthem or the flag. They never said anything about the military or disrespecting the flag. It was all about police brutality and fighting oppression.’’
Howard paused, catching his breath and carefully collecting his thoughts.
“Some people started kneeling because (Trump) said some things,’’ Howard said. “I feel like a lot of people overlooked the true meaning of why they were doing it and let President (Donald) Trump influence their opinion on things. That’s the big problem.’’
An emerging leader on a young Bears team, Howard feels more empowered than ever to speak up in the locker room. By now, everybody knows he will show up on Sundays.
[email protected]
The shrill sound of a siren blared long enough Wednesday at Halas Hall for the Bears to clear the practice field quickly, alerting everyone to the presence of lightning.
More quietly, Jordan Howard is still around to supply the thunder.
So much focus surrounds the Bears’ new offensive whiz-kid coach Matt Nagy and their franchise-quarterback trainee Mitch Trubisky that it gets easy to overlook Howard, the only running back in team history to begin his career with consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. Howard only needed 24 games to reach 2,000 rushing yards. It took Walter Payton 26.
“It’s pretty cool to be a running back in this organization,’’ said Howard, who has 2,435 career rushing yards on 528 carries. “Walter Payton, Gale Sayers, Thomas Jones, Matt Forte, Neal Anderson …”
Howard’s eyes looked toward the ceiling as he mined his memory for names he might have ignored.
“I don’t want to forget anybody,’’ he said with a smile.
Surely, Anthony Thomas — another no-nonsense former Bears running back Howard compares with nicely — will understand.
Howard knows the feeling. Ask most NFL observers to name the top five running backs in the league and few lists will include the 6-foot-1, 224-pound Howard, a downhill runner offering more substance than style, as underrated as he is overpowering.
“I don’t feel like I get overlooked,’’ Howard said. “It doesn’t bother me.’’
A growing reputation for having bad hands does, so Howard devoted this offseason to changing the perception and reality. According to Pro Football Focus, Howard has dropped 14 of the 76 passes targeted for him in his first two seasons, the worst drop rate among NFL running backs. Some Sundays you wondered if Howard could catch a cab home.
“I realized I needed to work at it,’’ Howard, who has only 52 career receptions.
Howard’s end: Catch everything thrown his way. That vow coincided with new running backs coach Charles London making Howard’s pass-catching a priority. So did Nagy, the former quarterback at Delaware who started joining Howard on the field before organized team activities to work toward the same goal.
“You can tell he was a quarterback,’’ Howard kidded.
But will we be able to tell if Howard catches the ball any better? Until that becomes more obvious, the repetitive question that bugs Howard most will continue to be asked.
“I do get tired of it but I brought it on myself because I haven’t put enough time in working on everything — but now I am,’’ Howard said. “It started being a problem in high school, just not having my hands in the right position. I didn’t work on it that much in college because we didn’t really throw to the backs that much. But I’m going to fix it.’’
A new offense demanding versatility from its running backs excites Howard, offering him an opportunity to evolve into an even more valuable part of the core. For one of the NFL’s best bargains — Howard will make $630,000 in 2018 on a rookie deal that runs through next season — the less he needs to come off the field on passing downs, the more the Bears will entertain the idea of a contract extension.
A more sophisticated offense will help Howard’s cause, limiting the defenses who never respected the Bears passing game. Asked which opponents most successfully stacked the box with an extra safety, Howard immediately named the Buccaneers, Eagles, Lions and Vikings. In those four games, Howard gained 59 yards on 35 carries.
“Defenses can’t focus on one thing anymore,’’ Howard said. “And that’s going to benefit me.’’
A good sign came after April’s NFL draft when Nagy never hesitated in designating Howard the Bears’ featured back.
“Absolutely, yeah,’’ Nagy said.
They were welcome words to a 23-year-old whose offseason has included unwanted attention. In February, Howard created headlines getting baited into guaranteeing a playoff berth on a light-hearted NFL Network segment. In April, he uncomfortably answered questions about Bears pictures being removed from his Instagram account. In-between, the Pro Bowler dealt with trade rumors based on the assumption he fit like a square peg in the round hole of Nagy’s scheme.
Nothing has felt further from the truth early in the Bears’ OTAs process as Howard has learned more about Nagy’s plan to tailor his scheme around his personnel the way smart coaches do.
“It’s pretty similar to what I was doing in college,’’ said Howard, a fifth-round pick out of Indiana. “I feel like my ceiling is pretty high and the more involved I can get in the passing game, it’ll get even higher. I have reached a comfort level in my third year.’’
It shows, especially away from a larger group. Asked during a one-on-one interview about the NFL’s new rule requiring players on the field to stand for the national anthem, for example, Howard opted to express his opinion. In the past, the soft-spoken Alabama native might have passed.
“I feel like they went about it the wrong way, they’re looking at the wrong message,’’ Howard said of the NFL. “I don’t feel like anybody was disrespecting the anthem or the flag. They never said anything about the military or disrespecting the flag. It was all about police brutality and fighting oppression.’’
Howard paused, catching his breath and carefully collecting his thoughts.
“Some people started kneeling because (Trump) said some things,’’ Howard said. “I feel like a lot of people overlooked the true meaning of why they were doing it and let President (Donald) Trump influence their opinion on things. That’s the big problem.’’
An emerging leader on a young Bears team, Howard feels more empowered than ever to speak up in the locker room. By now, everybody knows he will show up on Sundays.
[email protected]
