It’s been two largely anonymous months since Javon Wims’ impressive preseason, which put him on the radar of plenty of Bears fans. The 2018 seventh-round pick has played only three snaps with the Bears’ offense since, having to work almost exclusively behind the scenes on the scout team receiver during the week at Halas Hall.
The Bears possess a solidified group of five receivers who, if healthy, will be active on gameday: Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel, Anthony Miller, Josh Bellamy and Kevin White. Robinson and Gabriel are handsomely paid free-agent signings, Miller is a second-round pick, Bellamy is a versatile special teams ace and White is a former first-round pick. That’s created a difficult scenario for Wims to see action on Sundays unless someone’s hurt (and even when Robinson was out last week, Wims only played two snaps).
“I’ve been scrapping my whole life,” Wims said. “I go into everything expecting to get the worse end of the deal. But at the same time, I realize I’m blessed and I’m in a great situation where I can learn from those veteran receivers that we have. It’s just teaching me patience. When my time comes, it’s going to come, and I understand that. And for now, learn as much as I can from these guys and help the defense get ready for Sundays.”
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Wims isn’t underselling the scrapping-my-whole-life angle: He had a grand total of one scholarship offer coming out of high school in 2013, and wound up getting injured after not producing much as a freshman at NAIA-level Belhaven University. He eventually wound up at Hinds Junior College in Mississippi, and then made his way to the University of Georgia, where he became Jake Fromm’s favorite target on the Bulldogs’ way to the 2018 College Football Playoff title game. After all that, he was only a seventh-round pick, a designation that hardly guarantees a roster spot.
Wims earned that roster spot with some flashes in the preseason, including a four-catch, 114-yard, one-touchdown game against the Kansas City Chiefs in August. But while that earned him a place on the 53-man roster, it hasn’t earned him playing time — and earning it is an increasingly difficult task as Mitch Trubisky develops chemistry with an overhauled group of pass catchers.
And so Wims hasn’t been active for five of the Bears’ seven games, and when he has been active, he’s hardly been a major factor in the offensive gameplan.
“To any competitor, it makes you — I wouldn’t say it bothers you, but at the same time it makes you want to really get better individually,” Wims said. “I try not to just focus on Sundays, like the end of the tunnel — I just try to focus on the days before Sunday. That’s where I try to challenge myself to get better.”
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Gabriel — an undrafted rookie who was able to crack the Cleveland Browns’ receiver rotation back in 2014 — said he’s seen Wims take the right approach to his spot with the Bears.
“People always say just stay prepared and go through practices like you’re about to play, but it’s hard to be in that situation because you look at the depth chart and you look at the people in front of you, you just feel — you know what I mean — you won’t have the opportunity to play,” Gabriel said. “But what I do and what I tell him is just work on something that you should get better at, get more in tune with.
“He’s willing to learn. When you have young dudes like that, it’s kind of hard to get past where you came from. He’s coming from the University of Georgia, so he was the man there. Coming in the NFL, you’re not the man. Sometimes you are, sometimes you’re not, but he has the willingness to learn.”
The Bears liked Wims' size and go-up-and-get-it catching ability coming out of Georgia, but needed to see him improve his route running, specifically, during training camp. Wims did enough to make the team in that regard, and said he’s made strides as a route runner over the last few months.
The challenge, though, is those strides are coming while running scout-team routes — which aren’t always the same routes concepts used in Matt Nagy’s offense. But while that’s a drawback, getting to face Kyle Fuller, Prince Amukamara and/or Bryce Callahan in practice has a benefit for Wims.
“We’re a top-10 defense,” Wims said. “I’m pretty sure I could perform against any defense after that.”
From a larger view, though: That the Bears have the ability to not play Wims every week stands in stark contrast to the group of receivers this team had in 2017. Wims probably would’ve been at least active for every game last year, and probably would’ve been somewhat of a factor in the Bears’ offensive gameplan.
It’s all about the right circumstance. And while that hasn’t shown up for Wims yet, he’s confident it’ll come.
“Patience is the big thing,” Wims said. “Everybody here is filled with talent and potential, and me just zeroing in on my own talent and potential, trying to understand the process and the plan and just being patient, understanding the plan that’s in place for me.”