PLATTEVILLE, Wis. Rookie tight end Alonzo Mayes said Monday he
was happy with the three-year, $1 million contract he signedSunday,
but he won't accept the argument that because he was afourth-round
draft pick, he deserved fourth-round money.
"I never will. I never will. You can't," Mayes, 23, saidafter
his first Bears practice. "You know what your caliber is as aplayer.
You know what you can do. That was a situation that occurred
(dropping to the fourth round in the draft), but you know yourtalent
better than anybody. You just have to prove your talent to your
coaches and the rest of your peers."
Except for the two weeks of practice Mayes missed, the Bears
have an ideal situation with the 6-4, 259-pound tight end - a
supremely talented prospect who still has to earn the big money.Most
rookies of his caliber are multimillionaires before they step on a
practice field. Mayes has the ultimate motivation. Thoughperformance
incentives could increase the total value of the deal, his signing
bonus was $280,000. Mid-to-late first-rounders average around$1.5
million.
"I wasn't thrilled as far as my fourth-round draft status,but
there are other ways . . . to come out on top of it," said Mayes,
whose draft status dropped from the first or second round to the
fourth when he tested positive for marijuana at the NFL scouting
combine.
"In the long run, everything will come out in the wash, onceI
prove who I am and the caliber of player I will be."
After a morning walk-through, Mayes went through a fullpractice
in the afternoon. He only made one significant play, acatch-and-run
over the middle off a pass from Rick Mirer that showed a glimpseof
what the Bears hope he can do.
"Alonzo looked like a guy today who's been out of camp for 10
days," vice president of player personnel Mark Hatley said. "Hemade
one play, but he was sluggish. He's got a ways to go and a shorttime
to catch up."
"I feel all right," Mayes said. "Just getting the cobwebsoff
me, that's all."
Mayes told the Bears' coaches that he studied his playbookand
stayed in shape during his holdout. That remains to be seen. Butif
so, Mayes will still have a shot at opening the season as thestarter
at tight end.
"He's not going to get thrown in there on Day 1 and be the
starter," offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh said. "He's goingto
have to fight for it. If he fights well and we feel at the end of
camp he's the best one we've got, he'll be playing."
"It's going to take some time," coach Dave Wannstedt said."He's
missed 15 practices, 30 meetings and three walk-throughs. That's48
sessions. If you were getting ready to take a test and you missed48
classes, I don't know how prepared you would be.
"If he's been studying, like he says he has been, if he's in
good shape, which he says he (is), he'll be able to catch up. Ifnot,
that will show up, too."
"He's got a ways to go," tight ends coach Tom Rossley said.
"Probably the biggest thing he'll have to adjust to is blocking at
this level."
Wannstedt said the Bears' coaching staff will work with Mayes
between practices "morning, noon and night" to help him catch up.
Already, he plans to give Mayes significant time in the team's
preseason opener Saturday on the road against the BaltimoreRavens.
"(Winning the starting job) would depend on how quickly he
adjusts to the NFL and the coverages," Wannstedt said. "The runstuff
is pretty similar to college. But the passing game and coveragesand
adjustments, all that stuff is different. How he handles that inthe
next couple of weeks, we'll all be anxiously waiting to see."
"I don't feel too far behind," Mayes said. "Just being out
there, the only thing I lack is knowing all the players and
understanding their roles and my role. Other than that,
philosophy-wise and structure of the offense, I'm not too far
behind."
Mayes said the holdout was worth it because he gainedfinancial
concessions from the Bears he did not have on the table before
training camp.
"The reason it took so long is I was still dealing with the
situation that occurred with my draft selection," he said. "Plus,me
and my agent (were) inexperienced at this ordeal. We were bothnew to
the game, so we were taking it nice and slow. We don't understand
this business. It's a new business, so there was no real reasonto
rush it until you understand your (situation)."
Though he was not happy with the limitations his draft status
put on his contract, the negotiations were not acrimonious.
"(Bears negotiator) Ted Phillips did a good job and the whole
Bears organization did a good job in helping me get the best deal
possible," Mayes said.
Mayes said he still hopes to earn the starting job by theseason
opener Sept. 6 against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
"That's four legitimate weeks for me to prepare for it," he
said. "I'll be darned if I'm not going to be ready."
No comments:
Post a Comment