Wide receiver Dane Sanzenbacher seemed a long shot for making the roster a second straight year after the Chicago Bears upgraded their wide receiver corps with Brandon Marshall, Alshon Jeffery, Eric Weems, and Devin Thomas.

Now, Sanzenbacher, undrafted rookie Brittan Golden, and a handful of others look to have a better shot after Thomas quit the team suddenly and retired from football Sunday.

"When I found out about it, it was a surprise to me," coach Lovie Smith said about Thomas. "But you don’t want a guy out here if he’s not totally into football and he has a passion to play it.

"So, it’s not like I try to talk guys out of it when they’ve made up their mind."

Thomas quitting at age 25 simply because he had other interests to pursue stunned the wide receiver group -- no small feat considering they went through the Sam Hurd arrest on federal drug charges last year.

Sanzenbacher called it "something I haven't seen before."

"Everybody’s at a different point in their career, has different things going on outside of football, different personal things," Sanzenbacher added.

It led to Sanzenbacher getting some reps with the first group of receivers and quarterback Jay Cutler in the 7-on-7 and full-squad scrimmage.

"Obviously you want to be out there getting in that rhythm," he said.

Sanzenbacher has displayed better hands than last year when he tied Roy Williams for the team lead with seven dropped passes. Golden, a rookie from West Texas A&M, has been targeted constantly against backup defenders throughout camp. He manages to get open deep and has shown good hands.

The aspect the Bears lose with Thomas is special teams. He could have been a four-phase special teams player, and Sanzenbacher had little or no impact on special teams last year.

The Bears' wide receiver depth has been tested all the more considering Weems has been out with an ankle injury. He returned to the field in full pads after almost a week away Sunday, but did not participate in any full-squad work.

Follow Bears reporter Gene Chamberlain on Twitter: @CBSportsNFLCHI.