‘Mountain’ man Akiem Hicks can keep Bears’ LB signees clean

It takes a big man to play defensive end in a 3-4 scheme.

It takes an even bigger one to sing Miley Cyrus.

Yet ask Akiem Hicks — at 6-5, 324 pounds — about fellow defensive lineman Eddie Goldman, and he practically breaks into song. He said he serenaded the nose tackle Wednesday, singing Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball” — “because he’s so strong, and he’s just going forward.”

Any other song selections?

“Goodness no,” he said. “Maybe when we starting winning some games I’ll come back in.”

Hicks would be happy to pay off that bet. He left the Patriots, despite a last-minute phone call plea from Bill Belichick, to join the Bears on a two-year, $10 million deal.

While most of the offseason attention was given to inside linebackers Danny Trevathan and Jerrell Freeman, Hicks is the one charged with keeping them clean.

“I think selflessness in the 3-4 defense, especially how we run it here, is big,” Freeman said. “If he’s holding those (offensive linemen) up, I don’t want to be the guy not to make the play, not doing what I’m supposed to be doing. …

“You’re not going to move that guy.”

Freeman finished tied for 20^th in the NFL with 112 tackles last year as a member of the Colts; Trevathan was tied for 26^th with 109 with the Broncos.

Both know they can’t reach those numbers again without a bruising defensive line. Trevathan called Hicks a “mountain,” and smiled.

“To see him in front of me and to not have linemen come up on me, it’s a great feeling,” Trevathan said. “That’s what linebackers want, you want to roam around and just hit and attack. He’s got the right attitude.”

As a free agent, Hicks narrowed his options to a 3-4 defense. He struggled at the start of last season when the Saints switched to a four-man front, and was eventually traded to New England after only three games.

The difference in his performance was stark.

“You’re way more comfortable when you’re in your zone, your area,” Hicks said. “It’s just like putting me at corner — All right, I have no business out there.”

He marveled at the difference between a spending a full preseason with a team and joining it midseason.

“I wouldn’t wish that on anybody,” he said.

He suspects that Saints defensive coordinator Rob Ryan was undercut. That won’t happen at Halas Hall, where Vic Fangio is playing Hicks in the same spot where Justin Smith shone for him as a member of the 49ers.

“He’s got some explosive strength,” Fangio said. “He’s got brute strength. He’s a very strong guy. And I like the effort he plays with.”

Guard Kyle Long faced Hicks in 2013 and 2014, with the then-Saints lineman recording one sack in the second game.

“Gosh, he’s improved leaps and bounds,” Long said. “He’s just so creative now — he’s got a lot of moves. He’ll get us all better and they got a lot of guys out there that are making us all better.”