How Bears TE Sam Roush is Embracing a Life Lesson From Comedian Chris Rock

Sam Roush understands that the start of his rookie season hasn't exactly been smooth. 

The Chicago Bears' 9-3 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 2 was a rough outing for the tight end out of Stanford. Roush committed an illegal shift penalty that negated a 14-yard reception by tight end Colston Loveland. He dropped a pass in the red zone after a well-schemed play in the fourth quarter. And, of course, he was a part of the field goal unit that allowed the Viking to block the potential game-tying kick. 

Roush has committed more mistakes since that game. His special teams error against the Philadelphia Eagles was a glaring one. He dove on the football after it came to complete stop at the 1-yard line and accidentally touched the end zone line, resulting in a touchback. 

“Didn’t have a great start to the season; people were pretty upset," Roush told the media at Halas Hall on Tuesday. "I was hearing about it on social media, but it’s fine. I’ve got this little brick thing, so you tap your phone to it and I just locked all my social media, so that’s been really helpful. So just coming in every day with kind of the same approach, I know that my process works, so I’m not going to switch up just because of a short streak of bad performances.”

That's a mature approach and the right one for the 23-year-old. He's needs to have a clear mind because he's going to have a bigger role in head coach Ben Johnson's offense. Veteran tight end Cole Kmet is done for the season with a serious knee injury that he sustained late in the fourth quarter of the Bears' 30-24 win over the New England Patriots.

According to SumerSports, the Bears have run 505 offensive plays -- the most in the league. Chicago is second in 12 personnel usage (1 running back and 2 tight ends) with 171 plays, only behind the Las Vegas Raiders (223 plays in 12 personnel).

After Colston Loveland, Roush is the next man up. Johnson has already said he doesn't expect his offense to change even though Kmet is gone. That means Roush will be expected to help fill the void in Chicago's offense. 

The rookie tight end shared how he will handle this opportunity, and he highlighted comedian Chris Rock's standup special "Tambourine" as a blueprint.

“I’m going to take the same approach that I’ve been taking the last couple weeks," Roush said. "Coach made a little analogy. We showed a clip from a Chris Rock comedy routine. He was talking about marriage: sometimes in a marriage you’re the lead singer and sometimes you’re just stuck playing the tambourine. It’s like everybody’s on the team, everybody’s in the band playing different instruments and so my instrument got a little bigger this week, but I’m still in the band and I’m still playing football with my guys.”

Roush needs to fine his tune in Johnson's offense. He shouldn't expect to just replace Kmet, an 8-year veteran. That's an unrealistic expectation for the rookie. He needs to focus his attention on executing his requirements in each play, something he feels better equipped to handle as he prepares for his eighth game. 

“I think just having more confidence in my assignment, not my ability to do it," Roush told reporters on Tuesday. "If I get up on the line and we’re running wide zone, being able to confidently make a call and stick with it and not have doubt in my mind that that’s what I’m going to do. I feel like when I have confidence in what I’m supposed to do I can really get after people.”

The Bears will need Roush to get after people, clear rushing lanes and hold his own in pass protection. The remainder of his rookie season represents a massive opportunity, and if Roush can handle his expanded role, he'll keep Johnson's offense playing in rhythm.