Bears Saying All the Right Things

The high energy and optimism of players in Matt Eberflus' system is reflected by the offseason conditioning effort of some players but is typical of any team with a new coach.

If Khyiris Tonga is an example of how the Bears used their time from the end of the Matt Nagy era to now, then maybe coach Matt Eberflus will not need so many new players for his team after all.

It was Eberflus who said the Bears needed to come with their "track shoes" because they were going to run. It was part of his new HITS philosophy to be faster and also part of the cover-2 style defense to be lighter and more athletic.

Tonga, their seventh-round pick last year as a nose tackle out of BYU, showed up at Halas Hall looking more lean than in 2021 when he showed up for rookie camp after the draft.

BEFORE / Twitter

AFTER / Twitter

It will be interesting to see the actual weights of players are when the first roster gets released at minicamp compared to last year's. It wasn't just the defense that needed to be leaner for the 4-3 style, as the new offense calls for wide zone blocking and leaner offensive linemen.

Beyond this more athletic approach, the big change at Halas Hall so far as they embark on two weeks of conditioning and strength work before a voluntary minicamp is the "energy" being felt, according to comments from players through the team's website, Chicagobears.com.

It makes sense since Eberflus at his first press conference included this as one of the pilars of his aproach.

"We will carry ourselves with an attitude of energy, passion and intensity," he said at the opening press conference.

Players all bought in, according to senior writer Larry Mayer of the team website.

"It's really excitingand there's a lot of new energy in here," tight end Cole Kmet told Mayer.

"The coaching staff has great energy, the guys coming back have great energy, " defensive end Trevis Gipson said.

Optimism will abound without doubt at the minicamp and beyond, even as the roste has been completely overhauled.

Here are some more quotes about the atmosphere at Halas Hall.

"You can just feel the new energy. Everybody's buying in. Everybody's excited for one goal. We all got one goal, and that's to win."

Also:

"The energy is the big thing you notice."

• The first quote was by Charles Leno Jr., now long gone from the Bears, and was about the feeling under coach Matt Nagy in 2018 after the first work under him.

• The second quote was by linebacker Joel Iyiegbuniwe, who is now in Atlanta, and he was talking about how Nagy's presence in 2018 revitalized all the players while they worked at Halas Hall.

This isn't to be Debbie or Donald Downer and trash what the players are saying about Eberflus now, but merely to point out the same thing is said of every new staff early. Who would show up under a new boss and say, "the coach is boring and we're all feeling like lethargic slugs?"

Joe Burrow talks here about his late interception against the Colts, and how Matt Eberflus confused him on that play.

(P.S. This guy's gonna be a problem in the AFC for a long time). https://t.co/AjB5BazGNv

— Jim Ayello (@jimayello) January 7, 2021

Hope springs eternal when there is a new element involved. Just last offseason former Bears safety Tashaun Gipson had this to say about the defense's feel under their third  coordinator in four years, Sean Desai: "New energy, a new vibe, new atmosphere, man."

The Bears have a new coach and new approach. They have the typical new energy associated with regime change.

Whether it adds up to new success is something they need to show on the field.

For now, all they can do is show it in the weight room the way Tonga appears to have done.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven