If you look around the league, it seems like you’ll hear nothing but good things from coaches and league officials about new Chicago Bears offensive lineman Shane Waldron.
However, if you ask Jaxon Smith-Njigba, they might not be as excited as you.
CHGO’s Mark Carman caught up with Smith-Njigba, who played in Waldron’s offense in Seattle last year as a rookie last year, and his Ohio State counterpart Chris Olave on Radio Row at the Super Bowl in Las Vegas on Wednesday and asked Smith-Njigba about his former offensive coordinator.
The answer was not what we expected.“Um… is it live?,” Smith-Njigba sheepishly joked before finally launching into “Good luck with that.”
The former Ohio State star, who bounced back from a slow start and an early injury to finish his rookie year with 63 catches and 628 receiving yards, finally spoke a little more (and positively) about Waldron’s arrival in Chicago after serving as a Seattle player. OC over the past three seasons. “He’s a great person, a great offensive coordinator.
I was lucky enough to have him in my first year, I learned a lot from him. I think he and Justin [Fields] will be a good couple,” he said.(Oh yeah, both Smith-Njigba and Olave think the Bears shouldn’t trade Fields, their former Ohio State teammate, and think Chicago would regret it.
But you already knew that.) So maybe you shouldn’t reach for the bleach bottle or get ready to walk off that bridge just yet. Additionally, Smith-Njigba hasn’t seen much of the NFL or Waldron yet, since he just entered the league.
It’s also important to keep in mind that the young former Buckeye was behind established stars like DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett in the targeting pecking order and may have wanted a bigger role than he did.
The 49ers’ need for another last-second miracle deserves a full review However, the body language and uncomfortable reaction from the young receiver is not encouraging and makes one wonder if there were problems behind the scenes that we were unaware of.Obviously, no game manager or offensive coordinator is perfect.
And Waldron’s track record with the Seahawks has been pretty solid, including his work helping Russell Wilson and Geno Smith play with better rhythm.
But you’d definitely prefer guys to talk about working with Waldron in a more positive way rather than stammering and “good luck.”Hopefully, this is just one player’s opinion and not a preview of what the Bears can expect under Waldron’s leadership.
