Why Tyler Scott Treats Speed Like a Secondary Asset

When most rookies come into the NFL, they talk about the speed of the game being so much greater.

In Tyler Scott's case, the NFL—more specifically the Bears—talk about the rookie receiver from Cincinnati being faster than the league in general.

"Woo, Tyler Scott, he's fast, man," Bears special teams coordinator Richard Hightower said. "That guy is fast. I love his speed."

There's more, of course. It seems Scott might run fast, but learns just as quickly.

"I love the fact that he is so dialed in," Hightower said. "Every time a correction is made, he never makes the same mistake. I love that about him because it tells me that it's important to him and that he wants to be the best. Then, obviously he is a quick-twitch athlete. He's great in short area. Everything we ask him to do, he's going above and beyond to try to get that done. So we'll see what that looks like in the preseason."

Scott's speed and ability to pick up the way the pro game is played can make it exceedingly uncomfortable for players on the Bears roster like Velus Jones Jr., Dante Pettis or Aron Cruickshank. He hasn't been perfect, recording a few drops here and there, but most of the time at practice it has been difficult to differentiate him from the more experienced receivers.

"Right now I'm just trying to grade myself as far as like assignments, making sure that I'm assignment sharp, making sure I'm lined up correctly, making sure I'm motioning to the right landmarks, making sure I'm running the right routes, getting my depth, things of that nature," Scott said. "This part of camp I'm just kind of working on those type of things because once you get those things, that's when the game kind of slows down for you.

"Then you can really start kind of hopping into yourself and making plays."

Picking Up Bears Offense

The bigger adjustment for Scott has been playing in a Bears offense with so much shifting.

"It's definitely a lot, especially at Cincinnati we were kind of more of a base offense, not too much shifting or motioning," Scott said. "We were more hand signals as well from the sideline. Here it's all communications from the quarterback.

"You're hearing it in the huddle so you're trying to process it instead of just looking toward the sideline, and then definitely a lot more motioning from one spot to another, those type of things. It's definitely a lot more for sure but that just means you've got to dial in. The plus side of that I think is just kind of with the variety of different shifts and motions and even routes and adjustment. It kind of keeps the DBs on their toes. It gives you kind of more to look it, it gives you more space to mirror things up, make one route look like another. It just kind of gives you a variety of tools to use."

All of those are important because of what Scott says he is picking up from veteran defenders.

"One thing I've noticed coming from college to the NFL, the biggest difference is not necessarily the speed of the game, not as much as I thought it would be, so far at least," he said. "But I would say the knowledge of the players that you're going against, for sure."

His first play rep against Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson in spring OTAs was an eye-opener.

"My very first rep he was on top of it," Scott said. "He (Johnson) ran it (the route) for me. At that point I was like man … this guy's been here for three or four years and so I'm like this dude, he just kind of gave me a taste of really what a high-level-caliber cornerback is, how they dissect the game and how they're just one step ahead. 

"That's pretty much the biggest difference, so I’m just trying to figure out now how do I use my speed, how do I threaten guys with that and so just using like run plays or things of that nature just to kind of threaten guys and make them feel what I'm about so that then gets guys off of me. So then I can play around with them."

As camp has hit Day 5, Scott has adjusted to what other cornerbacks are doing.

"I've just kind been running past guys, just being able to do what I want," Scott said. "And so guys are going to start trying to come up and say, 'OK, let's see if he can take on a press. Can he release?' Things of that nature."

Fielding Punts

The way Scott can really turn up the camp heat on the veteran receivers he competes against is by returning punts. With Pettis still on the non-football injury list, Scott has been in the group of players fielding Trenton Gill's punts and it's the first time he's done it since high school.

"I'm starting to get more comfortable with it," Scott said. "Starting to kind of really read the ball, that's a big thing. Especially being a punt returner. Reading the ball with your eyes. Just kind of watching how the ball falls whether it's a right-footed punter or a a left-footed punter, just reading the nose of the ball and how that falls.

"Coach (Matt Eberflus) he kind of helped me out with that last practice. We kind of just sat back there and we were just kind of watching the ball and talking through how the ball is going to drop. That's another big thing that coach Flus talks about, is having reps when you're nost up in the rep in practice and how do you get better. He says 'Getting better is by being mentally locked into that rep even though it's not yours.' That's kind of what I'm doing now as a punt returner, just trying to make sure that I'm locked in and reading the ball. Really catching it with my eyes, that's been the biggest focus. I'm starting to get more comfortable with it, it's starting to come together."

With the first three receiver spots locked up by DJ Moore, Darnell Mooney and Chase Claypool, it will be difficult for Scott to get on the field on offense. Special teams helps but maybe Scott's attitude is the real key to getting playing time.

"I think coming in, I just tried to humble myself," he said. "I was drafted, great. But at the end of the day, you just have to earn trust. My mindset is if I come in humbled, I can only be exalted. And if I come in exalted myself, I can only be humbled."

It's the kind of attitude that can only be a fast track to something bigger.