Bears raving about Alshon Jeffrey

Posted by Josh Alper on August 9, 2012, 9:07 AM EDT

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There’s been a lot of optimism around the Bears this summer with their upgrades at receiver serving as the foundation for much of it.

Chicago traded for Brandon Marshall to be the kind of No. 1 receiver that the Bears have lacked since bringing Jay Cutler over from Denver. If you believe cornerback Charles Tillman, they also got a Marshall clone when they drafted wide receiver Alshon Jeffrey in the second round of the draft.

“The best way to say it is, he’s a Brandon Marshall in the making,” Tillman said, via Sean Jensen of the Chicago Sun-Times. “He has that capability to be as good as Brandon if he continues to have the work ethic and work on ball skills and work to be a better player. But he can definitely be on that level.”

Tillman’s not the only one dropping compliments at Jeffrey’s feet. Marshall said that Jeffrey is further along than he was as a rookie and that he’s learned a few things from Jeffrey since they started working together. Coach Lovie Smith said that he’s been “outstanding” during practices and said that his attitude about working hard and getting better makes him “easy to like.”

All of these compliments are tempered by the fact that Jeffrey is far from a completed product at this point. We’ll get our first chance to see how the Bears utilize Jeffrey on Thursday night against the Broncos, but his size and reach should make him an instant red zone target. As long as he keeps drawing these kinds of reviews, that will be just the tip of the iceberg.

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