Kevin White has played in just five games for the Chicago Bears since being drafted in 2015, and the team may finally be running out of patience with him.
Speaking with reporters on Wednesday, the oft-injured wide receiver hinted that the Bears had lost faith in him. Here is what White had to say, according to Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times:
Adam Jahns Verified account @adamjahns
Reporter: Do you feel the team (the #Bears) still believes in you?
WR Kevin White's answer: “Ah, don’t know. Really don’t bother me at all. I believe in myself.” 11:48 AM - 23 May 2018
White’s career arc has been discouraging to say the least — drafted by the Bears No. 7 overall in 2015, he missed his entire rookie season with a stress fracture in his shin. White then returned for the first four games of the 2016 campaign before suffering another fracture to the same leg that ended his season. He made it back for the Bears’ season-opener in 2017 but immediately picked up another season-ending injury, this time a fractured shoulder blade.
While White, who will turn 26 next month, remains under contract with the team, the Bears recently decided to decline his fifth-year option for the 2019 season. He obviously has a lot to prove in 2018 but may not even get the opportunity after Chicago signed this free agent wide receiver in March.
Geez Kevin when your team goes out and signs two UFA WRs right out of the gate and trades up to draft a third by now I think you could say they're at least very unsure you'll ever become what they hoped you would. Five games in 3 seasons, a 52% catch rate, and 21 receptions for 193 yard/9.2 ypc is not the kind of production they've been hoping for from a guy who was sold as a deep threat.
Still, Ryan Pace has expressed faith in you even now. It's really the fans you should be more worried about than the Bears. Most of us HAVE lost our faith in you ever becoming a player worthy of your draft status. So go out and prove us wrong.
Reporter: So, Shark, do you feel the team still believes in you? Shark: Aw, man, I don't know. They let me down every game day. It bothers me a bit but then I move on. I really can't say if they care about me as a fan or not. Headline: Fans are revolting against the Bears. It's pandemonium out there. Somebody better call in the National Guard.
It is easy to understand why Kevin White would have a bit of a chip on his shoulders. Chicago Bears fans are nearly all fed up with the fact that White has only been on the field for five games over the course of three seasons. Unsurprisingly, White is fed up as well. He met with the media on Wednesday following the team's OTA session and showed off that chippiness throughout his media session.
Adam L. Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times noted White was asked roughly 30 questions in just four minutes on Wednesday. The young wideout gave a lot of short answers filled with plenty of vagueness. The big question he was asked was if he thinks the Bears believe in him. He did not really know.
"Ah, don't know," he said when asked if he thinks the team still believes in him, via Jahns. "Really don't bother me at all. I believe in myself."
Okay then.
White deserves to be a bit unnerved. The seventh overall pick of the Bears in 2015 has been hit with obstacle after obstacle in his young NFL career. He was coming off a 2014 season at West Virginia in which he caught 109 passes for 1,447 yards and scored 10 touchdowns. He was credited for having down-the-field speed and the ability to dictate coverage to his side of the field because of that speed.
White then suffered an injury to his shin that offseason and missed the start of training camp and the preseason opener before it was announced the young wide receiver would have to undergo surgery. He had surgery in late August and did not appear in a game during his rookie season.
The young wide receiver bounced back that next offseason and put together a solid effort during training camp and the preseason. He entered the 2016 season as a starter opposite of Alshon Jeffery at the wide receiver position. After catching three passes in the season opener against the Houston Texans for 34 yards, White caught four passes for 36 yards and ran the ball one time for nine yards in a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles at home in Week 2. The following week on Monday Night Football, White caught a career-high six passes for 62 yards, including an impressive 32-yard catch. In Week 4 against the Detroit Lions he caught six passes for 55 yards before going down once again with an injury. After the game the team announced White had fractured his fibula in his left leg and would be placed once again on injured reserve, missing the remainder of the season.
Expectations were not quite as high for White last season after the team invested money in veteran wideouts Kendall Wright and Markus Wheaton, but once Cameron Meredith went down with an injury in the preseason more pressure was placed on the former first-round pick. Unfortunately for him, White caught just two passes for six yards in the season opener against the Atlanta Falcons before suffering a fractured shoulder blade which kept him out the remainder of the season.
The Bears understood it was important to add more weapons to the mix this offseason and the position with a new head coach in Matt Nagy. Chicago added Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel, Bennie Fowler and Marlon Brown as free agents and traded back into the second round of this year's draft to take Anthony Miller with the 51st overall pick. To say White is up against the odds this offseason would be an understatement.
Could this finally be the year White defies all expectations and plays up to his first-round billing? Anything is possible. But for the very first time in his Bears career it won't just be his body he will be battling in order to get onto the field.