Bears WR Kalif Raymond Details What Stands Out About Zavion Thomas

While Bears wide receiver Kalif Raymond Raymond was navigating his way to through the NFL, bouncing from rosters and trying to stick with a team, he had plenty of mentors along the way. 

During Raymond's brief stay in Denver, he had wide receivers Emmanuel Sanders, Demaryius Thomas, Jordan Norwood and Bennie Fowler to provide guidance. The former undrafted free agent from Holy Cross is now entering his 11th season in the NFL and first with the Bears. 

From former mentee to veteran mentor, Raymond now provides guidance to a Chicago Bears roster that features plenty of young wide receiver talent: Rome Odunze (24), Luther Burden III (22), Zavion Thomas (22) and Jahdae Walker (24). 

The Bears drafted Thomas with the 89th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Head coach Ben Johnson told him to follow Raymond, and that coaching point has stuck with the rookie. 

"That guy is, along with being credibly talented, he is a sponge," Raymond said. "And, I'm so excited for who he is, and who he's gonna be. ..." 

Raymond shared that Thomas sent him a video on the ankle mobility exercise that he does every night. The veteran wide receiver had two key takeaways from that simple gesture. 

"I'm looking at the video and I'm like, 'I need to get on this. No wonder he is so fast.' But two is this kind of mentality that kind of creates that consistency that discipline that longevity that will to be great later on, and he's doing it now every night, and it's so cool just to watch something as simple as that, how it can transition over to no wonder he's fast, no wonder he's so disciplined, no wonder he's so eager, because something as small as that, he's thinking every night. It's a sign of maturity."

That video, featuring toe stretches, anterior tipula exercises, is a small thing that ends of paying over time, and it takes a veterian's mindset to be thinking about those things, according to Raymond.

Even a veteran like Raymond can learn a thing or two from the rookie. As the relationship between the two receivers grows, that benefits the entire offense. Raymond has been in Johnson's system dating back to his time in Detroit, so he knows how the Bears' head coach likes to operate. Thomas is learning every day, even through mistakes, what's like being in an NFL offense. 

Fortunately for Thomas, Raymond serves as an ideal mentor. Having navigated his own share of ups and downs in the league, Raymond is proof of what pure work ehtic, determination and grit can accomplish -- qualities the rookie is already demonstrating early in his NFL career.