From rookie minicamp to OTAs to training camp and the preseason, it has all led up to this.
Week 1 of the regular season is here and the Chicago Bears are geared up for their showdown against the Tennessee Titans. Gervon Dexter Sr., a second-round pick entering his second NFL season, is one of several Bears players Clocker Sports asked what they wanted the narrative around them at the end of the season to be like.
They did not disappoint with their answers.
Bears DT Gervon Dexter Sr. Looking to Dominate in 2024
Gervon Dexter Ready to Put Offseason Work Into Action
Listed at 312 pounds, Dexter showed up in the offseason having changed his body type. Stories of his running the conditioning test with the defensive ends ? and acing it ? only proved what he already knew. Dexter believes he can be a force and wants to be ?dominant? in Week 1.
Just make plays, make big plays,? Dexter told Clocker Sports on Friday. ?Be in position to make those plays for my teammates. Just disrupt.?
Dexter said he took the same approach that led to his physical change in training camp.
?The way I prepare [for Week 1] is the same way I prepare for practice is all the same. So just being able to ? now that it?s games starting to be played ? now it?s time to show why you prepare. You prepare well, you have the confidence, and that’s where I’m at right now. I got all the confidence I need, I prepared the right way, I’m in shape the right way. So now it?s just time to show it.?
Dexter came on late last season, recording all 4.0 of his sacks from Weeks 14 through 17. He is setting even bigger goals this season, goals that could be obtainable with his newfound starting role.
?Hopefully man I would have knocked down some of my goals that I wanted,? Dexter said. ?Hopefully we?ll be still playing later on in the season, so all of those things I’m hoping that I accomplish ? All-Pro, Pro Bowl ? I want all of that. So that’s what I’m shooting for.?
Fans can watch the entire conversation below.
Rome Odunze: Playing at Soldier Fields a ?Blessing?
The Bears selected Rome Odunze with the No. 9 pick of the 2024 NFL Draft. After a long training camp (and a relatively quiet preseason for Odunze), he is ready for games to count.
?I’m thrilled [to play a real game],? Odunze told Clocker Sports on Friday. ?It’s been been a long journey to get to this point. So finally to be able to play real football and at Soldier Field, it’s a blessing.?
Odunze is in a stacked wide receiver room.
He is behind DJ Moore and Keenan Allen at receiver. Odunze also has to contend with Cole Kmet and Gerald Everett, both of whom are proven weapons in the passing game.
?Honestly, I just care what I’m doing for this team,? Odunze said about what he wants his narrative to be at the end of the year. ?My individual role, making sure everybody on this team expects and knows that I’m gonna go out there and give my all for those four quarters. And if it needs more, [I?ll give] more. That’s the only thing I really care about.?
Velus Jones Jr. Reacts to Matt Eberflus? Comments
Wide-receiver-turned-running-back Velus Jones Jr. switched positions during training camp and turned heads with some explosive runs and encouraging performances. Jones was also a star of HBO?s ?Hard Knocks? featuring the Bears during training camp.
Coaches could be seen fighting to keep him on the roster ahead of the cutdown.
The strongest comments came from Bears head coach Matt Eberflus, who said Jones had a ?great camp? and called the 2022 third-round pick a potential ?game changer.?
?That feels good to hear,? Jones told Clocker Sports. ?Knowing the work you put in and knowing your abilities ? I believe in myself. But the key is to try to get people to believe in you, and how you do that [is] hard work, doing the right thing, being available, being healthy, grinding, let them see you putting in the work, the effort. And that’s how you build that trust.
?That’s amazing to hear. Makes you want to go that much harder.?
Jones rushed 25 times for 158 yards and 2 touchdowns in the preseason, tallying 111 yards and 1 touchdown on 13 carries in the finale. It helped Jones show exactly what he said he wanted to show in the regular season.
?That he’s a playmaker with the ball in his hands, no matter how you give it to him,? Jones told Clocker Sports.
Collin Johnson?s Journey Continues Off-Camera
Practice squad wideout Collin Johnson joined the Bears in 2023, getting a late-season call-up that helped convince the organization to bring him back. He flashed in the Hall of Fame Game, tallying 3 receptions for 56 yards and 2 scores.
But, following an injury that sidelined him for the rest of the preseason, Johnson was cut in a moment that was caught on ?Hard Knocks.?
What the cameras did not show, was Johnson?s invite to join the practice squad.
He is not alone in that, and there were some whose offers were shown. Plenty of footage also gets left on the cutting room floor in post-production. But that slanted angle is not lost on Johnson, who has been cut before.
?It’s called ?Hard Knocks? for a reason, right?? Johnson told Clocker Sports with a laugh. ?They show the ups and the downs. But obviously it’s the part that I feel like fans and other people don’t really get to see is the conversation of being released or just the hard conversations that happen that go on in the business that maybe fans don’t really understand or see. So it was just a part of it.?
Johnson commended the 30-something-person ?Hard Knocks? crew whose presence did not cause any disruptions to the team?s day-to-day operation.
Johnson also said it ?felt awesome? for the Bears to bring back soon after the 2023 season ended.
?I truly believe in what everyone’s doing here,? Johnson said. ?The coaches, and what they’re building, and [Bears general manager Ryan] Poles, and Coach Flus, and just everything they’re building culture-wise and adding pieces to the puzzle. We got some unbelievable talent in the draft and free agency, so I’m just excited, honestly, just to see it all come together Sunday.?
