Chicago Bears coach Matt Nagy's No. 1 job is to take Mitchell Trubisky to the next level. There is another former first-round pick who also needs aid.
Wide receiver Kevin White has been as big of a disappointment as any top-10 pick in recent memory. Nagy hopes the fresh start with a new coaching staff will assist the talented but injury-prone receiver.
"I would think it would, that it would help him," Nagy said, via the Chicago Tribune. "If any of us were in that situation, and you have a fresh start -- forget about the whys of what happened. Forget about that. That doesn't matter. What matters is about right now.
"He's young. He has a big ceiling. Now we can try to do it as much as we can as coaches and try to pull it out of him, but he's got to work hard. He's got to put time in the playbook. He's got to put in the extra work after practice when he can. And then when the game comes, he's got to make plays. When you do that, his confidence will slowly get better and better."
White's talent jumps off the screen. Unfortunately, he's rarely been on the field. In three years, the 25-year-old has played in just five games, missing 43 contests. White ended his 2017 campaign after just one tilt, suffering a season-ending shoulder injury.
White is participating in the Bears' offseason workouts this week.
"He's a kid [whose] confidence hasn't been where it needs to be," Nagy said. "But what I can tell you is that from what I've seen so far, if I was somebody that was coming into this building and facility that didn't know anything about him, you'd never in a million years know it from what we've seen recently."
The Bears are almost certain to decline White's fifth-year option, given his injury history. After three forgettable seasons under John Fox, Chicago hopes a fresh start under Nagy will miraculously keep White healthy and unlock his raw talent.
