Tight end production has been virtually nonexistent for the Chicago Bears this season. But it’s receiver-turned-tight end Jesper Horsted who’s turning out to be an intriguing tight end prospect for the Bears.
With Trey Burton on injured reserve and Adam Shaheen sidelined with a foot injury, Horsted was elevated to the active roster last week for the New York Giants game, where he saw four snaps on offense, including one reception for 4 yards, as well as eight special teams snaps. It was that experience that proved valuable for the former Princeton receiver that’s still learning the tight end position.
“Everything was at 100 mph last week, and it was just really nice to get that out of the way because this game I was really able to focus on my assignment more,” Horsted said, via the Chicago Tribune. “Last game, it was loud, it was fast, everything was big. This game, things kind of slowed down for me, and I was able to just focus on my assignment and do what I have been doing.”
Horsted, a preseason darling that impressed with his ability to make contested catches, came up big for the Bears in the third quarter in Thursday’s 24-20 victory over the Detroit Lions. Horsted’s lone reception of the game was a significant one — an 18-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Mitchell Trubisky that tied the game at 17-17.
“It wasn’t necessarily schemed for me,” Horsted said. “Thankfully, I had a good outside leverage on the man and it was a beautiful ball from Mitch. I wasn’t going to let that one drop. I knew I caught the ball but I want to go back and watch it. I knew it was a contested catch and I knew there was no way that ball was dropping. It was in slow motion and yet I really don’t remember what happened. I just remember looking the ball into my hands and rolling over so (Harris) couldn’t rip it out.
“I was very excited, but I had to go down for kickoff next, so you got to move on to the next play.”
With Burton sidelined for the remainder of the season, Shaheen’s status up in the air and Ben Braunecker recovering from a concussion, Horsted figures to get more opportunities next Thursday against the Dallas Cowboys.
Given that Horsted has only been playing tight end for six months, the more he continues to learn the position and get valuable reps, the more intriguing a prospect he figures to be heading into 2020.
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