Fan favorite Cohen an exciting small pro
BOURBONNAIS— Rookie Tarik Cohen knows he has the edge in non- tackling trainingcamp practices, and he takes full advantage of it.
When the 5- 6, 181- pound running back has the ball— which has been often already— he darts and dashes and spins and motors downfield as would- be tacklers pull up as he heads toward the end zone. And the fans love it, cheering every move the little guy makes— even though many of those moves would never happen in a real game.
“Being on the offensive side, we definitely have the advantage of the oohs and aahs,” said Cohen, a fourth- round draft pick from North Carolina A& T. “You can try to make the defense look bad.”
Predictably, Cohen has been a crowd favorite from the time he stepped on the fields at Olivet Nazarene. Non- tackling or not, his speed and quickness— and what coach John Fox called his “evade- ability”— are impressive and fun to watch.
“I love the reaction from the fans,” Cohen said. “I never take it for granted because I feel like I can relate so much to the average fan because they feel like they’re the same size as me. They feel like they can relate closer to me. So I always try to give back, even if it’s just my time or speaking to kids or adults.”
While it’s difficult to predict how productive Cohen will be in real NFL games, it’s clear that the Bears know what they’ve got and are putting the shifty Cohen in situations with the ball where he can succeed— getting him in open space and getting the ball in his hands early so he can make plays.
“The first reaction [ of defensive teammates] is, ‘ Dang, boy, you’re fast.’ They love telling me that,” Cohen said. “They say I’m fast, and I’m small.”
“He’s got some evade- ability,” Fox said. “Until we get into live tackling, we won’t know [ how effective he’ll be], until we line up against the Broncos in the first preseason game [ Aug. 10 at Soldier Field]. But, so far, he’s looked pretty elusive.”
Even though the Bears aren’t tackling in practice, Cohen can see opportunities will be there in the NFL.
“I’mfeeling pretty confident that I can make some plays in a full- contact game,” he said, “because I can still tell by the point of contact where that’s going to be and still go through allmy reads. It’s still full- speed until the point of contact. So doing that really gets me a good look.”
Cohen is looking forward to that first game as well. He loves the contact.
“I definitely want to show people I’m not scared to be hit and that I can get up after a big hit,” he said. “I’ve been playing football all my life, and I’ve been hit hard, and I’m still playing the game. That’s what I love.”