2019 Chicago Bears Open Training Camp

The 2019 NFL season in Chicago gets underway in earnest as Bears players began arriving at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Illinois.

Mitch Trubisky is looking ahead at 2019, but mindful of how 2018 ended. “We want to pick back up where we left off. At the same time we didn’t accomplish what we did last year because we were worried about expectations. Nobody expected us to do what we did last year. Now it’s flipped where there’s all these expectations. We have to do a good job of staying focused and blocking all that out, and doing exactly what we did last year to help us win those games. On top of that do even more, so we can accomplish more than we did last year. There’s a lot of work to be done.”

Tarik Cohen described his approach to this season, “We hold ourselves to a higher standard now. The older guys that have been here who watched us go from last place to winning the division, know what it takes to have that success, and to have that work pay off in the regular season coming out of camp, so we’re all going to put our best foot forward. Help everybody that’s new to the team. Help the rookies, so we can achieve a higher goal this year.”

Trubisky insists he hasn’t even shown his best stuff yet. He wants to get rid of mistakes and “continue to make those good plays and being a consistent overall quarterback. Doing the little things like working hard and being a good teammate, and taking care of my brothers.”

Khalil Mack stressed that success starts in training camp. “It starts with camaraderie, and the focus, determination, and the will to win, ultimately. One game at a time, one week at a time. It’s going to be a long season.”

One of the biggest hurdles the team faced last year, was learning coach Matt Nagy’s offense. Having that behind them is big plus for 2019. “It allows us to go further within the details. It allows us to watch more film and install, and talk about every other thing. It allows us to accomplish a lot more throughout meetings. We are also allowed to add more. We can teach the new guys. As a quarterback, you want to master every part of it, so if you know a play insid out, you can teach it to someone else, then when you are on the field, you’re not thinking about it, you’re just playing ball.”