Jordan Howard has gotten to the root of his biggest bug-a-boo and vows to eliminate what has been his biggest issue since joining the NFL. One that – as it turns out – has plagued him since he was a prep football star: Dropping passes.
“It started being a problem in high school, just not having my hands in the right position,” Howard said via the Chicago Tribune’s Dan Wiederer, who included the nugget in his Bears running backs position group preview. “I didn’t work on it that much in college because we didn’t really throw to the backs that much. But I’m going to fix it.”
To be fair, it’s hard to get better at something if you’re not getting opportunities to do so. Practice makes perfect and increased reps are the only ways to get better at anything in life, whether it’s riding a bike, writing a post, or catching a pass.
Improving Howard’s pass-catching ability have been one of the storylines we have followed almost obsessively since this site’s humble beginnings. And we figure it will continue until he proves to be a respectable receiver out of the backfield, which is something the Bears need him to be if the offense is going to shine in 2018.
Last offseason, Howard trimmed down to get his body into better shape for his second season and even had eye surgery in an attempt to give himself a better chance at seeing the ball. This year, Howard’s new position coach has had a hands-on approach to helping the Bears’ star back get past this issue. Howard is so committed to addressing the elephant in the room and making it disappear, he has gone outside-of-the-box with an eye on improving his pass-catching skills. Make no mistake, Howard is still an incredibly valuable piece of the Bears’ offensive puzzle and he’ll need to show an ability to haul in passes out of the backfield for it to reach his full potential.
And now that Howard is on the record with this vow, I’m ready to see him make good on it. Let’s play ball, already!