Aug. 08--Alshon Jeffery's grin widens, his head nodding with excitement. The Bears receiver sits outside the dining hall at Olivet Nazarene University, and as the conversation shifts to new teammate Eddie Royal, Jeffery lights up.
Forget about football for a second, Jeffery insists. Royal also showed some sizzle in the gym on the eve of training camp when he joined Jeffery and tight end Martellus Bennett for a casual shootaround.
"Eddie's a hooper, man," Jeffery says. "He showed me something. Eddie can get hot real fast."
Royal accepts that report and tacks on a few notes.
"Nowadays I don't play defense too much," he admits. "But I'm a slasher, a spot-up shooter. I can get to the hole when I need to. And Alshon's right. At times I can get hot."
The Bears, of course, didn't target Royal as a priority in free agency because of his jump shot. Yet there's a belief throughout the organization that the eighth-year veteran could ignite the offense, a potential blowtorch to the wick of a unit that knows it has more firepower than it showed a year ago, when it finished 21st in the NFL in total yards (327.1 per game) and 23rd in scoring (19.9 ppg).
That smile Jeffery got when asked about Royal?
"Eddie's one of the smartest guys around," Jeffery adds. "He has a knack for this game and a feel for the right places to be at the right times."
Quarterback Jay Cutler shows similar excitement when he describes Royal's versatility and savvy. Offensive coordinator Adam Gase expresses unabashed optimism when he thinks of all the ways Royal's presence should loosen defenses. General manager Ryan Pace exudes positivity when he considers Royal just might be the offseason acquisition that pays the biggest dividends in 2015.
Sure, outside linebacker Pernell McPhee was the Bears' free-agency headliner, inking a five-year, $40 million contract to add tenacity to the defense. And, yes, Pace used the No. 7 draft pick on receiver Kevin White.
But Royal, 29, seems best positioned for an immediate breakthrough, particularly now that White's lingering shin injury could keep him on the shelf into the regular season.
It certainly won't hurt that Royal has Cutler's full confidence. The two were teammates seven seasons ago when Royal was a Broncos rookie from Virginia Tech, quickly breaking through with 91 catches, 980 yards and five touchdowns.
"People didn't get to see what went on behind the scenes," Royal says. "All the conversations we had. All the film study that happened. We put in a lot of work. And the cool part was we enjoyed putting in the work together."
Triple threat
Wes Welker.
Gase offers up the comparison, certain there are parallels between the five-time Pro Bowl receiver and Royal.
Gase spent the last two seasons with Welker in Denver. And even in his 30s, with his over-the-top speed diminishing, Welker's awareness out of the slot and ability to create separation allowed Gase to be creative in his play-calling.
Royal, Gase believes, has similar potency, an increasingly shrewd slot receiver with sharp vision. And Royal, Gase points out, has far more speed to take the top off a defense than Welker had the past two seasons.
"Eddie's got a special explosiveness that a lot of inside guys don't have," Gase says. "Eddie is a threat at all three levels. He can come underneath. He can break out intermediate. And he can get down the field."
Gase was Royal's position coach during the receiver's final season with the Broncos in 2011. When the duo reunited this spring, Gase was blown away by how much more intelligent and polished Royal had become.
The work Chargers coach Mike McCoy, receivers coach Fred Graves and quarterback Philip Rivers did over three seasons in developing Royal as a slot weapon proved eye-opening. It also has given Gase some new ideas.
"I'm glad I have Eddie back now," Gase says. "Because he's a finished product now. They gave him confidence."
More than anything, Royal's ability to identify coverages and adapt his responsibilities has stood out.
"He doesn't have to think about it," Gase says. "He just reacts to it. It's natural. It's ingrained."
Still, Royal would rather sidestep the Welker comparisons. He understands how lofty they seem.
"It's different," Royal says. "Wes and I could run the exact same route, and it would look completely different. We have different styles. The similarity, I guess, is that we both find ways to get open.
"It's hard for me to put myself on that page because Wes is unlike anybody else. He was the guy. He was unorthodox with the way he runs routes. It's hard to mimic that. He could really give an offense some pop."
A new beginning
Cutler reflects to his beginnings with Royal in 2008, to a session of organized team activities in which he became intrigued with a rookie receiver determined to carve out his niche.
Cutler can recall barking out plays, then watching Royal split wide, staring down at his arm as he lined up.
"I was like, 'What is he doing, man?' " Cutler says. "So when he came back to the huddle, I grabbed his arm, and he had written down all the plays and what he had for each route.
"That just tells me it's important to him. He doesn't want to mess up."
Royal flourished as a rookie in a Broncos offense that helped Cutler deliver his only Pro Bowl season. When Cutler was traded to the Bears in April 2009, Royal was staggered.
"In my mind, I had visions of us playing together for 10, 12 years and just stringing together our success for a while," Royal says. "As a rookie, you don't even consider that your Pro Bowl quarterback is going to get traded. So I was in shock.
"And it took me a long time to process it, that he wasn't going to be there and that I might not ever get to play with him again."
Now Royal has his second chance with Cutler, saying it was the quarterback's presence that helped sweeten the three-year, $15 million deal he signed with the Bears in March.
Royal also has impressed Cutler with his diversified skill set, far more understanding of how crisp a slot receiver's communication has to be with his quarterback.
"You've got to be on the same page because there's not a lot of room for error," Royal says. "You're talking about a lot of tight windows, a lot of little option routes where you've got to see the coverage the right way against the cornerback.
"That's why it's nice being with Jay. We're familiar with each other and we can read each other's body language really well."
Adds Gase: "It probably took a week for those guys to get in sync. It looked as if they hadn't ever left each other. And it was a long time that they were apart."
Like Jeffery, Gase sizes up Royal's potential and lights up. There's something big here to tap into.
dwiederer@tribpub.com
