When EA Sports released its Madden NFL 19 player ratings this month, Bears rookie wide receiver Anthony Miller reacted to his initiation into the legendary video game with the same I’ll-show-you confidence he brings to everything.
In an overall rating that attempts to put a number to attributes, including speed and agility, Miller was given a 74. That’s below the ratings for Bears veteran receivers Allen Robinson (87) and Taylor Gabriel (81), above oft-injured Kevin White (73) — and nowhere near good enough by Miller’s standards.
“I don’t know what they were doing,” Miller said Sunday with a smile after his second training camp practice at Olivet Nazarene University. “They must not have watched last season. But I know it’s going to go up as the season goes on.”
There’s that “swag” coach Matt Nagy likes to talk about.
After the Bears traded up to draft Miller in the second round in April, Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace talked about how his route quickness, strong hands and versatility to fill several roles could make him an important weapon in their revamped receiving corps. They also focused on that infectious drive and confidence, which helped him go from being a walk-on at Memphis to totaling 191 catches for 2,896 yards and 32 touchdowns in his last two seasons of college.
If there’s a question of how such a big personality might play among NFL veterans, wide receiver Josh Bellamy, 29, said the 23-year-old Miller is one of those “guys that have that dog in them” and is displaying the right amount of drive and competitiveness as he opens his first training camp.
“When I was a rookie, they told me, ‘Stand out. Don’t blend in,’ because there are a lot of guys out there,” Bellamy said. “If you’re just standing in the back, ain’t nobody going to remember you. … He’s got that in him. He’s always in the front of meetings, paying attention. He’s just watching what the vets are doing, and he’s mimicking what you do. He’s going to become a pro fast.”
Miller showed some promising flashes on the opening weekend in Bourbonnais.
He got the Saturday crowd fired up when he caught a red-zone touchdown pass from quarterback Mitch Trubisky and made a diving catch on a deep pass from backup quarterback Chase Daniel down the right sideline. Afterward, he simply advised to “look forward to a lot of plays like that” this season.
On Sunday, he looked strong in one-on-one drills, making a touchdown catch from Daniel and putting a move on cornerback Kyle Fuller to snare a pass from Trubisky.
“You can see he’s a playmaker,” Nagy said. “He plays with some confidence. As coaches, we said this when we drafted him, you saw the tape, saw that he could make plays, and he plays with a little of that swag. And you never want to take that away. You’ve got to control it.
“Trust me, he has some mistakes on tape, too, but we’ll get that corrected and get him better.”
Miller knows he has growing to do.
He said “the mental part of it” — learning the details of his routes and breaks — has been the most difficult part of his transition to the NFL. He writes out his notes during team meetings and then again before he goes to sleep at night to better remember them at practice.
“We have two- or three-hour meetings every day, and it’s all on plays,” Miller said. “They install things every day, and you can’t just study in the meeting. At night you have to be in your playbook, or you’re going to come out here and you’re not going to know anything. That’s what I’ve had to do each and every night, and it’s been helping me.”
He said Bellamy, Robinson and Trubisky are among the many who have helped with his schooling. On Sunday, he moved around on the sideline when he wasn’t in a drill, chatting with coaches, quarterbacks and receivers — presumably soaking up information.
“He’s doing that, and he’s probably talking a little trash too,” Bellamy said. “But that’s what you like. I love him and can’t wait to see him play.”
If fans start to feel the same way, Miller is ready to connect. He started a website that so far includes three blog posts introducing himself and a virtual store selling T-shirts featuring his personal “AM” logo.
“It’s really for the fans to get to know me as a person and my background, where I came from and why I act the way I do out on the field,” Miller said.
And why is that?
“Because I came from nothing,” he said. “I was a walk-on. Nobody offered me. Now I’m a second-round pick and I’m out here with the Chicago Bears, one of the best organizations in the league, and I couldn’t be more blessed to be here. So I’m going to have fun every chance I have to get out here.”
That much is evident so far.
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