WARE, England — Keenan Allen isn’t worried.
The Bears are paying the veteran receiver $23.1 million this season. Through five games — only three of which he played — Allen’s best game has seen him total 33 receiving yards. The Bears have had 11 better performances by pass catchers this season.
Every other one of their weapons has posted a breakout game. Receiver DJ Moore had five catches for 105 yards last week while running back D’Andre Swift caught seven balls for 72 yards the week before. Tight end Cole Kmet had 10 catches for 97 yards and rookie receiver Rome Odunze had six for 112, both against the Colts.
Allen thinks his big game is coming.
“It’ll happen,” he said. “We’re continuing to get better, growing every week. I feel like we did a great job last week of playing team football …
“As long as we’re winning, I’m good.”
That the Bears have a winning record despite a quiet five weeks from their second-highest paid player is encouraging. They can’t get where they want to go, though, without Allen being what the Bears envisioned — a precise route-runner with soft hands who’s the first person Caleb Williams look to on third-and-4.
That consistency makes Allen more valuable early in Williams’ first season than he will be going forward — if he’s even on the team next year. His contract expires after this season
Allen has only 10 catches for 81 yards this season. After struggling to get through Game 1 and missing the next two because of plantar fasciitis, Allen claims he’s healthy.
“When you start the season, different guys are on different paths, get a little dinged up, a little slow start,” general manager Ryan Poles said. “But really, I felt like Keenan has done a good job as he’s gone week-to-week here and started to play. There’s a couple third down conversions that we had this past game where it reminded me of the guy that I’ve watched over the years playing. And he’s going to be a really good option for Caleb as we go.”
Poles said Allen ran “some really good routes” against the Panthers.
“Obviously we want to get Keenan involved more,” offensive coordinator Shane Waldron said. “It’s a goal of ours, but there is also going to be the structure of the defense and what they might take away that week.”
Working with a quarterback playing his first NFL games doesn’t help, either. In his NFL career, Allen had played all but one game alongside either Philip Rivers or Justin Herbert. The results were consistent — and explosive. Last year, he had 42 catches for 519 yards and four touchdowns through the Chargers’ five games.
In eight of his 11 seasons, he’s posted at least 25 catches through five games. In nine seasons, he’s had at least 225 yards in the first five.
Chris Beatty had an up-close view — the Bears receivers coach was his position coach in Los Angeles.
“I think every receiver gets impatient,” he said. “At the same time, he knows he’s open. He knows eventually the ball will find him. It’s just a process to get there. It’s a little bit of impatience but also a little bit of ,‘Hey, I know it’s gonna come. Just keep doing what I do.’”
The Bears hope the numbers will come — even if they probably won’t ever be as gaudy as they were with the Chargers, where he set the franchise record with 108 catches last season.
“You might not put up the same numbers you’re used to and still be just as effective,” Beatty said. “For us right now it’s about making the quarterback comfortable, making sure he can see the things and us being in the right spot for him.
“Eventually those things will start translating into bigger numbers.”