By Adam Studzinski

BOURBONNAIS – One of the 12 receivers looking to make the Chicago Bears final roster at this year’s training camp is former Illinois State wide out Cameron Meredith.

Meredith was a key player on the 2014 Redbirds squad which reached the FCS National Championship game. In fact, he was the team’s leading receiver. Speaking after practice Thursday, Meredith said the talent difference at the NFL level is noticeable.

“There are no mediocre guys our here. Everybody’s good, or else we wouldn’t be out here,” said Meredith. “The level of competition is pretty high every single day. There really aren’t too many off plays so you have to be on your game every play.”

Podcast: Listen to Meredith’s full conversation with WJBC’s Adam Studzinski.

Meredith said he’s focused on staying strong mentally during camp.

“There’s a lot of things going around. There’s a lot of people. There’s a lot of plays, things moving fast. (I’m) just trying to ease my mind and move onto the next play and focus on the present,” said Meredith. “The physical attributes, I have them, but everything else will follow once I get my head in the right place.”

Meredith said Offensive Coordinator Adam Gase’s playbook is “a little bit thicker” than the one he had at ISU.

“The terminology and the lingo is kind of different. There’s a lot more plays. It takes time. It takes those reps,” he said.

Meredith has also been working in on special teams, something he gained experience doing during his last year at ISU.

“A lot of the techniques that we learned at Illinois State kind of carried over to here,” said Meredith. “I’m really excited to get out there and make some plays not only on offense, but on special teams too.”

Meredith signed with the Bears as an undrafted free agent earlier this year.

Adam Studzinski can be reached at [email protected].