Bears WR Dazz Newsome on return to practice field: “I’ve just got to ball”

The Chicago Bears selected former North Carolina wide receiver Dazz Newsome in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft with the hope he’d become a quality depth piece who has the versatility to fill a number of roles.

That hope has been on hold since June, when the rookie broke his collarbone at minicamp.

Newsome returned to the practice field for the first time in training camp this week and told reporters that the biggest challenge he’s facing is learning everything that comes along with being a jack of all trades in the wide receiver room.

“The only thing I would say is the biggest challenge is just knowing what to do at every position and where to be at every position,” Newsome said, via the Chicago Sun-Times. “But other than that, I’ve just got to ball.”

Newsome totaled 54 catches for 684 yards and six touchdowns in 2020 and finished his career at North Carolina with 188 catches for 2,435 yards.

“I love to compete,” Newsome said after the NFL draft. “That’s probably my favorite thing about football, just the competing part. And honestly, the other part is they’re getting a brother. They’re getting somebody that they know is going to work hard for them, somebody who is going to fight and somebody who is going to go to war.”

Now, he finally has that chance to compete and prove he belongs in the league.

“It’ll be interesting to get him out there and really get going and see what he can do,” Matt Nagy said.