LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Montez Sweat turned a lot of heads when he joined the Bears last season and sparked a defensive resurgence. Earlier this week, however, defensive coordinator Eric Washington said Sweat did something at training camp that he can’t recall seeing ever before in his 17 years of coaching experience.
Sweat went over to the offensive line and explained how he sees protection concepts and explained how he tries to assert himself on the pass rush in order to give his teammates extra insight.
“I thought it was really cool,” Washington said. “It speaks to the leadership.”
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On Tuesday, Sweat revealed that cross-department collaboration wasn’t an isolated incident. He said that right tackle Darnell Wright has approached him “a lot more” this year for advice, and the two talk ball.
Throughout the summer, most of the talk has been about how the defense can help rookie quarterback Caleb Williams get up to speed. The veteran unit has given Williams many looks over the course of training camp, in the hopes that the more he’s exposed to in practice, the more he’ll recognize in the games.
“He needs those looks,” Sweat said. “He needs to feel that pressure, so I provide that for him."
The same can be said for the Bears offensive line. Center Coleman Shelton and right guard Nate Davis each have over five years of experience, but left tackle Braxton Jones is starting year three and Wright is a sophomore. The Bears drafted left guard Teven Jenkins in 2021, but he only has 24 starts under his belt due to several injuries over the years, and most of that work has come at other positions.
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Bottom line, the offensive line benefits from repping against elite athletes just like Williams. Offensive line growth should directly translate to growth from Caleb Williams, and Caleb Williams growth will directly translate to growth for the rest of the organization.
“(Sweat) understands that we have to be the sum of our parts,” Washington said. “The group has to be good. The offensive line has to be good for us to accomplish our goals as a team.”
Head coach Matt Eberflus announced that the majority of the Bears starters will not play in the team’s preseason finale against the Chiefs on Thursday. Expectation is that includes the starters on the offensive line. But there are still 17 days to go until Week 1. Plenty of time for the offensive line to keep honing their craft against the likes of Sweat and the rest of the defense.