Coaches don’t make declarations this time of year. Just ask Bears secondary coach Deshea Townsend, who, when questioned about his starters, compared two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Kyle Fuller to Stephen Demark, the seventh-round pick who played exactly zero snaps as a rookie.
“Kyle’s job is to hold off Denmark,” he said, somehow with a straight face.
It was surprising, then, to hear receivers coach Mike Furrey plant his flag about probably the sixth- or seventh-ranked player in his position group.
“I think the biggest growth we’re going to see with anybody in our room is going to be Riley Ridley,” he said last week.