Dazz Newsome kept dropping slant passes, then his college coaches told him to see an eye doctor

LAKE FOREST – The ball kept arriving quicker than Dazz Newsome could react.

It was spring 2019 ahead of Newsome’s junior season at North Carolina. A new coaching staff had come to Chapel Hill, led by head coach Mack Brown. Brown had hired Lonnie Galloway as his wide receivers coach.

Coming off a solid sophomore season in which he caught 44 passes for 506 yards, Newsome was trying to acquaint himself with freshman quarterback Sam Howell, who had arrived a semester early for spring ball.

“We were running the little glance post from the slot and the ball came out, and as soon as it came out it hit him in the face, bounced off his helmet,” Galloway recalled recently.

[ ‘Dazzling Dazz’: Dazz Newsome hopes to find the field ‘any way possible’ for the Bears ]

Galloway knew something was up because Newsome had really nice hands and normally didn’t miss so badly. It wasn’t just once, either. It kept happening. Galloway pulled Newsome aside and said, “Can you see?”

“It happened a couple times where the ball had got up on him and I’m like, ‘You probably have to get your eyes checked because you’ve got to be able to see that,’” Galloway said.

The coach was being serious. The Tar Heels coaching staff set up an appointment with an eye doctor for Newsome.

“I had like one bad practice, and the ball was beating me up a little bit,” said Newsome, now 22. “It was crazy. They kept being slant routes. They kept coming across the middle. I kept dropping them. They were getting up on me real close.”

Newsome said his reaction was “I don’t need no glasses.” But after some persuasion, he went and saw the eye doctor. He did, in fact, have something wrong with his eyes.

“I’m telling them I’m good, but when I went to get checked out they told me I needed some contacts,” Newsome said.

Newsome now wears contact lenses. Those slant routes became a lot easier to see with proper vision.

Newsome had his best college season that year in 2019. He caught 72 passes for 1,018 yards and 10 touchdowns. It helped propel him into the draft conversation a year later. Ultimately, the Bears selected Newsome with a sixth-round draft pick in 2021. He’s battling for a spot on the roster in a crowded receiver room, while also trying to make a name for himself as a punt returner.

He had a brief setback this summer, missing two months after breaking his collarbone, but he is back on the practice field now.

It helps, too, to be able to see what’s coming at him.

“Catching the ball is something that at that level you have to be able to do,” Galloway said. “Everyone can catch it in the league and make tough catches and hard catches.”

Practice report: The Bears quarterbacks had a rough time in 7-on-7 on Tuesday. Rookie Justin Fields was intercepted twice, once by safety Tashaun Gipson and once by linebacker Caleb Johnson. The first one was a miscommunication with his receivers. There were several targets in the area, but nobody went to the ball.

Andy Dalton was intercepted once by safety Eddie Jackson. Dalton threw a deep ball for receiver Darnell Mooney in the end zone. The ball was slightly under thrown, and Jackson picked it off near the goal line.

The quarterbacks ended practice throwing balls into a bucket in the corner of the end zone from about the 10-yard line. Dalton’s five made bucket tosses led the way.

[ Justin Fields will start against Tennessee in preseason game No. 3 ]

Injury report: Defensive backs Xavier Crawford (groin) and Teez Tabor (hamstring) sat out practice Tuesday. Tight end Jimmy Graham, defensive tackle Akiem Hicks and outside linebacker Khalil Mack received an extra day of rest.