The list of NFL rookies who have compiled at least 420 receiving yards since Week 9 is not long. In fact, it consists solely of Bears tight end Colston Loveland (506) and receiver Luther Burden III (446).
The emergence of the Bears' top two picks in the 2025 draft over the past two months has helped fuel an offense that ranks in the top 10 in scoring (10th) and total yards (3rd) after finishing in the bottom five in both categories last year.
"They've progressed really since they've gotten here," said offensive coordinator Declan Doyle. "Early on, they had been banged up a little bit and so they didn't have quite full offseasons. But they've just done a great job of keeping their heads down.
"I think it's a byproduct of them being very willing and growth oriented. It's an environment that encourages that, and then the position coaches have done a great job with both of those guys staying on them and continuing to push them to grow."
Loveland, a first-round selection, missed all offseason practices while recovering from shoulder surgery, while Burden, a second-round choice, sat out most offseason workouts and the first few days of training camp with a hamstring injury. Neither rookie, however, allowed that to stop them from blossoming into a key contributor on a division championship team.
"It's not something that happens a lot, and yet it's not something outside of the realm," Doyle said. "When you watch their habits and how they work every single day and you see them go out and have success on Sunday, it ties together, it makes sense."
After averaging 1.8 catches and 19.3 yards with no touchdowns in six games played in September and October, Loveland averaged 4.1 receptions and 56.2 yards with five TDs in nine contests in November and December.
"[I've been] getting a couple more targets and a couple more opportunities to make plays and I've been doing so for the most part, which has been good," Loveland said. "It's been a blessing. I've always trusted the process, trusted coaches and trusted my teammates."
Burden had no more than four catches in any game until his last two outings. He had six receptions for 84 yards in a win over the Browns, and after missing the overtime victory over the Packers with an ankle injury, established career highs last Sunday night in San Francisco with eight catches and 138 yards, including a 35-yard TD from Caleb Williams.
"I'm super blessed," Burden said. "Me and Colston came here, and we set our goals and winning the division was one of them … I feel like coach [Ben Johnson] is getting us more involved and Caleb is doing a great job spreading the ball around. We're just taking our opportunities and making the most of them."
Caleb in command
Doyle praised Williams for enticing the 49ers to jump offsides with a hard count and then capitalizing on the free play by rifling a 36-yard TD pass to Loveland.
"You see a guy who is more in command as far as when he's up there and utilizing the cadence to an advantage," Doyle said. "We talked about that a lot when we first got here, just our cadence being something that we wanted to kind of hang our hat on. It helps you in a lot of different ways, being under center and your guys being able to come off the ball and get a little bit of an edge just because the quarterback's cadence is consistent.
"That's a situation that we practice quite frequently. They jumped; we pulled the trigger at center. We did a great job of protecting and really flipping into that protection that we needed to handle. [Williams] did a good job of working out there, and then Loveland able to separate and we create a big play down the field. We create a touchdown and it's really all of [Williams'] cadence."
Cleaner operation
Doyle believes that the difference with the Bears offense now versus the one that started the season is "the operation is much cleaner."
"That speaks to the quarterback, that speaks to [center] Drew [Dalman] being able to direct things," Doyle said. "You've been in 17 battles together and there's shared experience as far as how we handle problems, how we handle things that might come up that are unscouted, and the communication is much cleaner.
"And then just confidence. Confidence is born of demonstrated ability, and so they've seen themselves perform at the highest level at times. We're always trying to make it more consistent, but I think that there's a confidence bred from going through those times of 17 games or 16 games to this point and feeling like you can go execute against anybody."
Injury update
Burden (quad) and defensive back Josh Blackwell (shoulder) were full participants in practice Thursday after being limited on Wednesday's estimated injury report.
For the second straight day, receiver Rome Odunze (foot) and defensive end Joe Tryon-Shoyinka (concussion) did not practice and tackle Ozzy Trapilo (knee/quad) and cornerback Nick McCloud (illness) were limited.
Right guard Jonah Jackson (illness) was added to the injury report after being unable to practice Thursday.
