If you ask Chicago Bears wide receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette, he will tell you straight up, “I got to make that catch”. Smith-Marsette has had an inauspicious start to his Bears career and, in some ways, it is fitting how things have transpired thus far. But, again if you Smith-Marsette, he will also tell you that his story is far from complete.
So how does the 23-year-old make deal with it?
For one thing, he certainly has the support of his quarterback, Justin Fields. Despite Smith-Marsette having a penalty called on him that wiped out a Fields run and fumbling the ball on the Bears’ final comeback attempt, Fields came to his pass-catchers defense.
The issue is, just six games into the season, the narrative of Smith-Marsette’s story is quickly heading in the wrong direction.
Bears Wide Receiver Opens Up About Crucial Miscues
Strength in Numbers
In Week 6, it was a fourth-down pass across the middle that hit the second-year wideout in his hands.
“I gotta catch that. Wide open. I catch that…I’m definitely going to score. Defender fell. It’s only one person to beat – the high safety. I just gotta catch that, make that play.
He was asked how tough it can be to move on from his most recent performances.
“It’s real tough. Being that last week, you know, I had the miscue. Then this week where I could have changed the game. It’s tough. It’s plays that I know I can make. So, I got to go out there and show that I can make them.”
“Just keep my head down, keep working. It’s a long season. And we got each other back, no matter what. I got their back and vice versa. So let’s go out there and get this thing rolling.”
Smith-Marsette is right that, at least publicly, no one in the Bears’ locker room is ready to throw him under the bus.
Especially not his quarterback.
“I know he’s feeling down right now,” Fields said after those two plays in Week 5 against the Minnesota Vikings. So, our job is to pick him up. And he’s a great player…I know what he can do on the field. He’s young – second year. He’s just got to learn from that mistake; keep going. But he can be one hell of a player in this league for sure.”
Chicago Bears QB Justin Fields Takes Beating as Offense Flounders
Smith-Marsette was acquired late this summer after the Minnesota Vikings waived him.
He got flagged for an illegal block above the waist penalty that wiped out a 60-yard rush from Fields. He later fumbled when Vikings cornerback Cameron Dantzler ripped the ball out of his hands.
Smith-Marsette a Microcosm of Bears O
Through six games, he’s garnered four targets, catching one for 15 yards. It is quickly approaching a time when he is putting more bad on film than good. But he is not the only one struggling as the Bears’ offense continued to struggle against the Commanders.
Even on the plays that they thought they won.
This close. #WASvsCHI pic.twitter.com/S5OL385R11
— NFL (@NFL) October 14, 2022
“1-on-1, we liked the matchup with [Darnell] Mooney against who he was going against. Justin gave him a shot, he came down with the catch. We believe it was a touchdown. But we left the game in the ref’s hands and that was the result.”
Smith-Marsette was correct — whether or not one believes Mooney scored is irrelevant.
The Bears left the game in the ref’s hands despite having the game well within their grasp, and if you let Smith-Marsette tell it, right at their fingertips.
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