Bears Looking for Red Zone Relief
Bears quarterback Justin Fields has worked with wide receiver N'Keal Harry only a short time but believes they have a strong enough connection to bolster the passing game.
Harry was back from an ankle injury and at practice on a limited basis Wednesday as the Bears decide whether to activate the former Patriots receiver from injured reserve this week in order to face the Minnesota Vikings. They have a roster opening this week because they put guard Cody Whitehair on injured reserve Wednesday following a knee injury in Sunday's game.
"Obviously when you have a big-bodied receiver like that that's open and has got a good catch radius and can big-body guys, that's an important thing to have," Bears coach Matt Eberflus said. "Situational football, third down and red zone, those are all important things to look at when you're looking at catchers. And he certainly has that."
Harry is 6-foot-4, 225 pounds. He was acquired from the New England Patriots for a seventh-round draft pick just before training camp and got in only a little over a week of work before his injury occurred on a wide receiver screen play in camp.
"He would, of course, be a good matchup for smaller DBs," Fields said. "One on one, especially red zone, just throwing up a jump ball to him, that's one of the things he does really well. So just being able to throw more 50-50 balls."
The Bears could use the red zone help supplied by a big receiver, as they failed to get in the end zone last week in three tries. Harry has 57 receptions for three seasons as a first-round Patriots draft pick. He had 598 yards and four touchdown catches.
Eberflus called Harry's skill set different than other Bears receivers.
"Everybody's got a different skill set," Eberflus said. "Everybody runs differently. Everybody gets open differently. And I think he's got a unique skill set.
"Like we said, he's a big-body guy that's open like a tight end. Tight ends are typically open because they got smaller guys covering them. The catch radius is there. They can big-body guys. They can use their radius to be able to stay and keep open. So I think he has all that."
To get Harry involved immediately shouldn't be too big of a chore, Fields believes.
"Just (practice) reps," Fields said. "You know, communicating with him, how he runs routes, what I'm thinking on certain leverages of DBs and stuff like that. So basically just reps and being on the same page as him."
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