Byron Pringle is aware of he didn’t make the fitting sort of headlines in his first couple of months as a Chicago Bears extensive receiver.
He was arrested in April in Florida for reckless driving and driving whereas his license was suspended after an officer suspected him of doing a donut on the street with a toddler and one other passenger within the automotive.
But if Bears followers will enable him to reintroduce himself, right here’s what he desires them to know.
“I’m just a hardworking man,” he mentioned. “I love the game. Things happen.”
Pringle didn’t increase a lot on the incident in his first feedback to the media after Wednesday’s obligatory minicamp observe at Halas Hall, saying he had “no thoughts on it.” He pleaded not responsible to the fees, requested for a trial by jury and has a pretrial courtroom date set for July 5, in response to Pasco County information.
He mentioned he spoke with common supervisor Ryan Poles and coach Matt Eberflus earlier than the information got here out within the media and “everything’s squared away in house.”
That echoed what Poles informed the media just some days after the arrest. Poles, who knew Pringle from their 4 years collectively in Kansas City, mentioned the Bears had been in “a good place” with Pringle and that the incident was “not a reflection of who he is at all.”
Pringle tweeted after his media availability: “I’m just here to play football not answer (clown) questions.”
So the main focus for the reason that arrest has been about how Pringle could make constructive headlines with a Bears offense that wants some extensive receivers to step up alongside Darnell Mooney.
Eberflus has been happy with what he has seen from Pringle throughout practices the final a number of weeks.
“He does a really good job and is an explosive athlete, and he’s strong,” Eberflus mentioned . “He’s got a strong set of hands to catch it in traffic and he does a really good job (with) yards after catch. He can break some tackles, you can feel his strength and you can see that on tape. We like where he is.”
Pringle, who signed a one-year contract value $4 million assured this offseason, has a giant alternative to extend his manufacturing from a career-best 42 catches for 568 yards and 5 touchdowns in 2021. He was fifth in catches — and the third extensive receiver — on the potent Chiefs offense run by quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Now, the 28-year-old former undrafted free agent from Kansas State is a part of a set of Bears receivers with rather a lot to show after Poles made largely modest offseason additions on the place.
Mooney is the one Bears extensive receiver on the roster with a greater season production-wise than Pringle had in 2021. Tajae Sharpe had 41 catches for 522 yards and two touchdowns as a rookie in 2016. Poles additionally drafted rookie Velus Jones Jr. within the third spherical final month.
So whereas working again David Montgomery and tight finish Cole Kmet are prone to be concerned within the passing sport, too, there’s room for a newcomer to interrupt out. Equanimeous St. Brown and Dante Pettis are among the many different gamers searching for that shot.
Pringle disregarded questions on particular person objectives and as an alternative mentioned he’s making an attempt to execute at a excessive degree, win and have enjoyable, one thing Mahomes tried to verify his teammates all the time had been doing. And Pringle believes they will do this behind quarterback Justin Fields and new offensive coordinator Luke Getsy regardless of years of offensive struggles in Chicago.
“I always keep a smile on my face wherever I go, so I’m keeping that positive energy,” Pringle mentioned. “Coming here, we ain’t worried about the past. We’re trying to go forward. We’re trying to go up. We’re not looking back at what happened in the past, and as a unit, we’re trying to be better, hold each other accountable.”
Chiefs coach Andy Reid mentioned on the NFL homeowners assembly a few months in the past that Pringle would “play his heart out” and “still will continue to grow because he works so hard.”
That’s why Pringle thinks he could make higher information within the months forward.
“I never try to stay at one level,” Pringle mentioned. “I keep trying to keep going forward. … I don’t try to be the same player, the same dude. I try to learn something every day.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com