Tight end Jimmy Graham caught the fewest passes of his NFL career while playing with quarterback Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay last season, which was a big reason why the Bears’ decision to sign Graham to a one-year, $9 million contract raised many eyebrows this offseason.
Graham sounded quite aware of those reactions when he spoke to reporters on a video conference on Thursday. He said he feels motivated to show that the Bears were correct to bring him in for a shot at rebounding from last year.
“I have a lot to prove,” Graham said, via Jeff Dickerson of ESPN.com. “I mean, I have a big chip on my shoulder to do as best as I can with this new opportunity. I’m extremely blessed to be here with such a young group of guys that are so hungry. I know you guys aren’t in this locker room, but you can feel the buzz. You can feel the buzz in this building. There’s no excuses. No one is looking around and saying we got to do this, we got to do that. This organization has done a great job to keep us all healthy, to hold us all accountable.”
Head coach Matt Nagy said that he likes the “swagger” he’s seen from Graham at practice and that the team needs the energy that the veteran has shown this summer. We’ll get our first chance to see how Graham fits with the new offense against the Lions on September 13.