Bears veterans share details on ‘uncommon’ culture in this year’s locker room originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
LAKE FOREST, Ill. – A winning culture is one of the elusive intangibles that every sports team in the world strives for, every season. It’s hard to qualify and impossible to quantify. It’s also what Bears GM Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus hoped to completely reshape when they took over the reins of the organization back in 2022 with sweeping personnel changes and the installation of the H.I.T.S. principles.
The Bears specifically wanted players with high motors who played through the echo of the whistle on every snap. They wanted guys who loved football because they loved football, not just because they were good at it. And they were going to focus on Hustle, Intensity, Takeaways and Smart ball.
Heading into Year Three of the Poles/Eberflus regime, the Bears believe their culture is better than ever.
“The way I’ve felt since the day we came in, from the first day, everyone’s just like starving, everyone wants to eat, some type of way, however it is,” said nickel corner Kyler Gordon.
Gordon has been with the Bears from the start of the new program as part of Poles’ and Eberflus’ first draft class. He’s noticed a difference in the culture from his rookie season to now, and called it “uncommon.”
“The way that we do talk, the way that we positively critique and get on each other, the accountability, the way we hold each other to the standard and stuff like that, we’re on top of it 24/7, really.”
The real talent influx for the team began in 2023, after Poles stripped the roster to the studs. He added notable veterans in free agency like Tremaine Edmunds, T.J. Edwards. Blockbuster trades brought in cornerstone players like DJ Moore and Montez Sweat.
But last year the team was still getting a feel for one another. They were still figuring out what their identity was going to be as a team. Now they’ve spent much more…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/bears-veterans-share-details-uncommon-230556205.html
Author : NBC Sports Chicago
Publish date : 2024-08-19 23:05:56
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