As the Chicago Bears prepare to have their first practice of training camp this weekend, defensive end Montez Sweat is ready to show how great it will be to have him in town for a full season.
The Chicago Bears players are now all reporting to training camp. The rookies reported on Tuesday while the veterans have to report today. On Saturday, the team has its first practice. The battle to make the 2024 regular season one of the most impactful in recent history begins.
One of the players who is excited to play a full season with the Chicago Bears is defensive end Montez Sweat. He came to Chicago via a trade deadline deal. Despite playing about half the season in town, he led the team in sacks. In fact, between the Washington Commanders and Chicago Bears, Sweat had 12.5 sacks. The rest of the defense combined for nine.
Sweat actually made history last season. He led the Commanders with six sacks. By also leading the Bears in sacks, he became the first player in NFL history to lead not one but two teams in sacks. He hopes to lead just one team in 2024. He also made history by becoming the highest-paid Chicago Bears player in franchise history in terms of annual average salary.
The defense received a bump from having Sweat. With a very good secondary, the defense can be elite if the defensive line does its job. The turnovers came in bunches when Sweat got to Chicago. The Bears ended up ranking fifth in the league in total turnovers. They also led the league in interceptions.
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Once Sweat got on the field, his elevated play was infectious. The Chicago Bears pressured the quarterback more. Yannick Ngakoue was struggling as a pass rusher. The talented defensive end was amid one of the worst seasons of his career. However, his play improved once Sweat arrived.
With Sweat attracting attention, Ngakoue had half of his sacks and one-third of his tackles in just five games. The combination of Ngakoue and Sweat looked like it would be a good pairing. However, Ngakoue fractured his ankle and missed the rest of the season.
The Chicago Bears did not have anyone else to take some pressure off of Sweat. We saw a preview of what might happen if the Chicago Bears don’t find someone to complement Sweat. The Green Bay Packers neutralized Sweat by sending a small village of players at him. That slowed his path to the quarterback.
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The Chicago Bears must have someone on the other end to make teams pay for putting too much attention on Sweat. General Manager Ryan Poles, who did a great job of bringing Sweat to town, selected Austin Booker to play defensive end. Booker may be a superstar in the future. However, at the moment he is a project. He had just 580 total snaps in college.
Depending on what happens in training camp, Poles might decide on bringing Ngakoue back. If Ngakoue shows that he is over his injury, he could be a great addition. He already knows the defensive system so there would be no adjustment period. Additionally, he already showed that his play complemented Sweat. Having both of them play together for an entire season could be a boom for the defense.
Sweat admitted that he was shocked and upset when he found out Washington traded him. However, he felt better after first, signing the new contract, and, second, he saw how the defense was set up for him. In Washington, with so many great players, Sweat had to wait to react to what his teammates did. With the Chicago Bears, he is the main guy. He just goes after the quarterback.
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It’s kind of based around me. In Washington, everyone was kind of like an alpha male and they are great players, but it was hard for guys to make sacrifices for all of us to be of one accord. In Chicago, we don’t have that problem. We all work together.
Sweat has talked about the defense picking up in 2024 where it left off in 2023. The players are looking to have an elite defense. For most of the season last year, this was an elite defense. The numbers were skewered because of a horrible first four games. After that, though, the defense was among the best in the NFL.
Now the defense wants to be elite for the entire season. That will be easier to do with Sweat for the entire season.
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