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LAKE FOREST – Kyler Gordon and Jaquan Brisker get all the attention as rookies on the Bears’ defense.
Rightfully so. The secondary tandem has stood out since they arrived at Halas Hall, and their impressive play has continued during the first week of training camp.
But there’s another defensive rookie who the Bears are high on. While Brisker and Gordon have been jockeying for “takeaway king” at training camp, Dominique Robinson has been quietly going about his business, soaking up all the information he can from his coaches and teammates.
Robinson arrived at camp in phenomenal shape. The Bears didn’t share his Bod-Pod results, but they were impressive enough to make teammates chuckle at the thought of how low the rookies’ body-fat percentage is.
A fifth-round pick who started his career as a dual-threat quarterback before transitioning to wide receiver and defensive end, Robinson hasn’t been overwhelmed by his NFL moment.
“So far, it hasn’t gotten too big,” defensive coordinator Alan Williams said Friday. “Each situation, each install that comes in, he’s, he gobbles the install up, the things that we teach him. And then it goes from the classroom to individual to group, and then on the field, you see whatever we’re teaching.
“Every day is a new day for him. There’s something that comes up that he goes, ‘OK, we need to teach you that or read your keys a little bit better,’ but the next day it’s corrected. So, it’s nice when you have a player that maybe makes a mistake Day 1, you correct it in the meeting, and then Day 2 he fixes it when it comes up again. That’s the sign of a guy that’s going to be OK, a guy that’s a professional.”
With Robert Quinn arriving to camp and declaring his intent to be a Bear this season, Robinson gets bumped back down the depth chart and can focus on refining his raw athletic abilities before being asked to make an impact on Sundays.
That doesn’t mean the Bears aren’t expecting a contribution from the rookie this fall, though. Robinson’s athleticism and hunger were apparent to his teammates from the day he entered the building.
“He’s a great player,” Trevis Gipson said of Robinson during minicamp in June. “He’s a great student of the game, comes into work, never late, always has his playbook in his hand, is eager to learn. Sort of reminds me of me, honestly. Fifth-round pick, chip on his shoulder, dominating practice every day and still looking to get better anywhere he can.”
Robinson’s journey to reach his potential might take a while. But it’s one the Bears are willing to wait on because of their belief in just how good he can be.
“The sky is the limit for him,” Williams said.
Now, the Bears have to find a way for Robinson and his rare athletic gifts to touch the sky.
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