Most of the Chicago Bears rookies have done well in the first three games of the NFL season. Two rookies, safety Dillon Thieneman and cornerback Malik Muhammad, already have their first NFL interceptions while sixth round rookie Jordan van den Berg has a solo tackle and Zavion Thomas has gotten some action in the kick return game.
However, one rookie has not had a good start to the NFL season - tight end Sam Roush. Roush had a terrible day against the Minnesota Vikings that included a dropped pass, drive-killing penalty and missing his assignment on the blocked field goal. He also had a special teams mistake in Chicago’s win against the Philadelphia Eagles that turned a downed ball inside the five yard line into a touchback.
Chicago’s special
teams coordinator Richard Hightower addressed Roush’s struggles on special teams, saying that he is always asking questions when he makes a mistake so he can improve his game.
“He always is very inquisitive when he doesn’t do what he expected to do,” Hightower said. “He always wants to do extra, he wants to know why and he wants to get good at it. Obviously, he’s frustrated by that play as everyone is.”
Roush's snap counts on special teams have decreased since the beginning of the season. While he was on the field for 75.7 percent of Chicago’s snaps on special teams in the Week 1 win against the Carolina Panthers, he was only on the field for 42.9 percent of the snaps Week 2 against the Vikings and 15.8 percent of the snaps in Week 3 versus Philadelphia.
Roush is someone with a lot of potential, but is also someone that needs to learn more before he can gain the trust back of the coaching staff to get back on the field. Bears fans probably will not be seeing as much of him in Chicago’s Week 4 game against the New York Jets.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Richard Hightower on Sam Roush's struggles on Bears special teams
