Five months ago, as Montez Sweat was cleaning out his locker at Halas Hall, delivering goodbyes to teammates and launching into the offseason, he reflected briefly on a short, nine-game stay with his new team.
“I know we fell short of our goal that we set to make the playoffs, but I think we’re heading in the right direction,” Sweat said in January. “There’s definitely a foundation here that we’re building upon.”
Boy, does that foundation look different as the Bears reconvened for mandatory minicamp this week. Sweat was on the field for Tuesday’s first practice with a lot of fresh faces, including new defensive coordinator Eric Washington. Sweat is one of nine starters returning on defense but there are plenty of new teammates to meet and learn about on offense, including some bona fide skill position threats with wide receivers Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze, tight end Gerald Everett and running back D’Andre Swift all new.
Maybe there was a little bit of a first-day-of-school feel for Sweat, who was present only a few days early in the voluntary offseason program but otherwise wasn’t around until players were required to report on Monday.
“I feel like we had a good offseason as far as adding people,” said Sweat, who helped spark improvement after arriving in a deadline trade with the Washington Commanders.
The Bears were 2-6 before acquiring Sweat for a second-round pick and went 5-3 the rest of the way. The defense was stout against the run and began producing takeaways like coach Matt Eberflus envisioned happening when he arrived in 2022.
Sweat’s 6 1/2 sacks led the Bears and in a statistical oddity, he also led the Commanders with six. The Bears are counting on him leading them again this season as there haven’t been enough big-time seasons from edge rushers of late. Since 2007, the Bears have had only five seasons with an individual player reaching double-digits in sacks — Robert Quinn (18 1/2, 2021), Khalil Mack 12 1/2, 2018), Willie Young (10, 2014) and Julius Peppers (11 1/2 and 11, 2011 and 2010).
There’s reason to believe the Bears have confidence they can unlock more with Sweat, who will turn 28 in September. Last season they were learning about him, what makes him tick, how he practices, how he works off teammates — all on the fly. Since then, they’ve had a chance to go back and study what he does best, how others work off him and what might elevate his game to the next level.
Washington is now a trusted voice in the defensive room and brings a specialty of creating pass-rush advantages, so maybe the Bears will get a little more creative at times with Sweat. In 379 snaps in their defense last season, he lined up at left end 292 times — 77% of the time. There were 76 snaps at right end and eight inside at tackle. Sweat’s length, explosive nature and speed make him a problem for almost any interior lineman. Maybe the Bears will consider looping him a little more on stunts from the outside to get an interior rush. That would give him a running start and a lot of space to operate against an athletically inferior guard.
“We’ll see what happens,” said Sweat, knowing the kind of game-planning that would create these situations is still a couple of months away.
“I really feel that Montez is in a good spot,” Eberflus said. “Obviously, his talent level is there and our system and the way our culture is really lets guys play at their highest level. Meaning that we’re going to make sure guys play at their max effort, max intensity, max preparation, because that’s the way we do it. We don’t walk by mistakes here. We don’t let things slide. Doesn’t matter if you’re Montez or you’re DJ (Moore) or you’re Caleb (Williams), that doesn’t matter.
“We have a standard of how we operate and it’s coached by the coaches and enforced by the players. He understood that coming in, too. He was very clear with our message on how we do things and he bought into it and he got better every single week. We anticipate that this year, too.”
Sweat alluded to things being different than he was accustomed to after arriving from Washington last season, and he understands there’s a lot on him as the highest-paid player on the roster. General manager Ryan Poles has called him a “multiplier” and the Bears felt that difference last season.
The defense was flying around during the two-hour practice Tuesday and probably won the day overall. The starters — Sweat wasn’t in during the team periods because the staff wants to evaluate where he is — forced the offense to go three-and-out in two periods at the end. Eberflus said the hope is Sweat will be ramped up in the next two days.
“When you’re out there having fun and talking smack, it makes it so much more fun for everybody around you,” Sweat said.
Yes, a lot has changed in five months. Expectations have shifted. Excitement feels like it might actually be tethered to a little bit of reality.
“We really can’t get caught up in what’s on paper,” Sweat said. “Football is played on the field and you gotta go out there and execute the X’s and O’s. You can’t get caught up in any of that stuff that’s going on outside of here. Just stick to what we know, that’s playing football.”
Sweat’s foundation was set at 12 1/2 sacks between the two teams last season. That seems like a good place to start looking ahead to goals and wondering about the blueprints for what the Bears are building.
