Tarik Cohen was browsing at Woodfield Mall on Tuesday, and several fellow shoppers did double-takes as he passed. The Bears rookie running back is convinced it’s his height — listed at 5-foot-6 — that gives him away.

“They see a little grown man, and there’s only one little grown man in Chicago right now,” Cohen said.

Cohen has a gregarious personality, but if he had to name one thing he found he doesn’t like as he wraps up his first season in the NFL, it’s the frequent attention off the field.

“I wish there was an area I could turn it off and just be invisible,” Cohen said. “(Where) I could go to Walmart and get some paper towels and not be in there for 30 minutes.”

He said his fan experiences are “not really any strange encounters, just taking pictures in the frozen food section, holding sausages.” He has found fans are much nicer in person than on Twitter.

The recognition is of course a tribute to Cohen’s solid rookie year, in which he has rushed for 357 yards and two touchdowns on 84 carries, caught 47 passes for 339 yards and a touchdown and totaled 775 yards on punt and kick returns, with one touchdown on a punt return. The numbers have added up despite preseason speculation about whether a player of Cohen’s size (he’s listed at 179 pounds) could withstand the rigors of a full NFL season.

As he approaches the final game of 2017 Sunday against the Vikings in Minnesota, Cohen has pushed away that skepticism.

“He takes care of his body,” Bears coach John Fox said. “He’s a pretty quick guy. Even though he might be viewed as undersized, he doesn’t experience too many direct hits. He avoided that pretty well. His football IQ is good in that sense. He doesn’t put himself in compromising positions. That and I think his mindset has been to take good care of himself. He gets plenty of rest, and it’s just being a professional.”

Cohen said he never really considered how long an NFL season might feel until he pushed into November and December, but veteran running back Benny Cunningham has advised him how best to take care of his body for the grind. Cohen said that involves not always being active and using off days for real rest.

The Bears also have limited Cohen’s usage in certain situations as he gets up to speed on the many different roles they ask him to play. He has played 36.6 percent of their offensive snaps this season, an average of 23 plays per game.

As for learning to take NFL hits coming out of North Carolina A&T, Cohen said the biggest he took this season were in his Bears debut against the Falcons at Soldier Field on Sept. 10.

“Welcome to the NFL hits,” he called them.

Once he adjusted to the speed and impact, he said he has learned to better protect himself.

“All throughout college it was me not getting hit,” Cohen said. “I had to adjust, against Atlanta, to getting a couple of good licks. I knew I couldn’t go into every game and get hit like that. I wouldn’t hold up. I worked on that, turning my body so that defenders couldn’t get a square hit on me.”

Late in the third quarter of Sunday’s victory over the Browns, Cohen caught a third-down pass over the middle from quarterback Mitch Trubisky for 13 yards and promptly was sandwiched by two defenders. Cohen popped up, pointed his fingers and flexed his muscles.

“It was to tell myself I’m still good,” Cohen said. “I knew I was going to get hit across the middle, so I was bracing for it. When I got up, I was like, ‘I’m good. I must be the strongest guy on the field to get hit by two people and still survive it.’”

Cohen said he feels “very motivated” after his first year, knowing he will be a part of an offensive core that includes Mitch Trubisky, Jordan Howard and Adam Shaheen. He likes the track the group is on moving forward.

As for what Cohen likes best about life in the NFL after one year, that also involves shopping.

“The thing I like the most is the gifts your teammates give you,” Cohen said. “(Linebacker) Danny Trevathan gave us some Apple watches earlier in the season. That’s the best thing about the NFL so far.”

ckane@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @ChiTribKane

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