Former Chicago Bears wide receiver Dontrelle Inman is heading down a new career path.
Inman, who began his professional career in the Canadian Football League with the Toronto Argonauts in 2012, played in the NFL from 2014 to 2020, spending time in Chicago during the 2017 season. He also played for the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers (2014-2017) and the Indianapolis Colts (2018-2019), and he had a stint on the practice squad of the New England Patriots in 2019. His final season in the NFL was in 2020, when he played for the Washington Football Team.
Now, Inman will be dipping his toes into the coaching waters.
According to Pro Football Network’s Mike Kaye, Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni confirmed Inman will be joining his staff this coming season as a coaching intern. As Kaye also notes, it’s a position another former Bears wideout, Eddie Royal, also held recently in 2021.
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A Look Back at Inman’s Time With the Bears
The Bears traded for Inman back in 2017, sending a conditional seventh-round pick to the Chargers in exchange for the receiver. It was a year in which the team was in desperate need of help at WR, and while he didn’t set the turf on fire, he did contribute.
Inman played in eight games for the Bears after getting traded to the team that season, starting seven. He became a solid target for then-rookie QB Mitch Trubisky, catching six passes for 88 yards in his debut against the rival Green Bay Packers in early November.
He finished with 23 receptions for 334 yards and one touchdown in his lone season with the Bears, who elected not to re-sign him after his 2017 campaign concluded. Had he gotten just two more catches with the Bears that year, Chicago would not have recouped the seventh-round pick it traded for the wideout initially. Alas, the Bears retained their pick.
#dabears The Chicago Bears have retained their 7th round pick they initially traded for Dontrelle Inman. The condition was that Inman would have to finish with 25 receptions. He finished with 23. The Bears have 7 total picks in the upcoming draft.
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Inman Has Past Connection to Current Eagles HC Nick Sirianni
Inman, 33, has worked with the current Eagles coach before, in San Diego from 2014 to 2016, when Sirianni coached quarterbacks and wide receivers under ex-Chargers head coach Mike McCoy.
The former receiver finished his NFL career with 188 receptions for 2,445 yards and 13 touchdowns, with his best season coming in 2016, when he caught 58 passes for 810 yards and four scores. He developed a good rapport with ex-Chargers QB Philip Rivers, who spoke highly of Inman when they were teammates.
“If you want one quality for a player, you want them to have dependability,” Rivers told the San Diego Union-Tribune in 2016. “Dontrelle is a good player. He makes plays. He runs good routes. His main thing is he is dependable. You can count on him to run the right route, to play any position, to do his job every day.”
Now, Inman’s job will likely involve working with and advising Philadelphia’s young corps of WRs, which includes A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Quez Watkins.
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Ex-Bears WR Set to Join Coaching Staff of NFC Squad