It's a nice story, Dane Sanzenbacher's rise from undrafted rookie to one of the Bears top receivers.
He leads the Bears with two receiving touchdowns, and he's tied for second with nine catches.
Sanzenbacher admitted he didn't think he'd be such a big part of the offense so early.
"I wouldn't say it's awkward," he said. "But this isn't really a sport where your individual achievements are going to overshadow you losing games. You want to be a part of an offense that is making plays and getting wins. It's great to be on the field and make those plays. But you want to win ballgames at the end of the day.
"It's something we're all striving for."
That's the problem.
The Bears shouldn't be counting on an undrafted rookie to help them this early in the season. Sure, there have been injuries at the position, mainly to slot receiver Earl Bennett and veteran Roy Williams. But with those guys nicked up, the other receivers should be producing more.
Instead, Sanzenbacher has the only two touchdowns for a Bears receiver, with the other three coming from Matt Forte, Matt Spaeth and Kellen Davis.
That's not a very good recipe for success in a passing offense.
Sanzenbacher isn't to blame; other than a key drop against the New Orleans Saints, he's shown good hands and made a couple of important and tough catches.
But he should be eased into the offense, or -- at the very least -- a player who gets in a handful of snaps. Instead, over the last two games, he's been targeted 14 times. That's the same number as Devin Hester, and behind only Forte (22) and Johnny Knox (15).
"When your number's called they expect you to make the play, and one thing that's been great about being here and this coaching staff is if they put you on the field, that means they trust you can make those plays," Sanzenbacher said. "So you can't really second-guess yourself when you're out there. When you're targeted you have to catch the ball."
That's an admirable comment from him. But other receivers should -- and need to -- step up.
