NEW ORLEANS — Before he even had a chance to bask in the glow of a life-changing contract extension — a four-year, $98 million deal with $72.9 million guaranteed — Montez Sweat had to answer questions about another Bears loss. Welcome to Chicago, Montez.
“It’s a challenge — learning new plays, learning new scheme and stuff like that,” Sweat told a crowd of reporters probably bigger than he’s used to after the Bears’ 24-17 loss to the Saints on Sunday at the Superdome. “But I gotta adjust quickly, and that’s what I’m gonna do.”
A whirlwind week for Sweat played out about as expected. He started against the Saints, four days after arriving in Chicago following a trade with the Commanders. He played a starter’s complement of snaps in the defensive-end rotation, pressured David Carr into an incompletion on third down and showed some hustle chasing down quarterback Taysom Hill from behind after a 13-yard gain on another play. But he couldn’t prevent the Bears from falling to 2-7.
“It was a fast week. Game was fast,” Sweat said. “We’re going to go and look at the film and see where we can improve.”
It had to be a little frustrating for Sweat, who anticipated playing so quickly after the trade because “football is football,” but also was hampered by having too much to learn too quickly. There just aren’t many Khalil Macks — and Mack had a full week to get ready in 2018. Sweat had four days.
The toughest part of the quick transition? “I guess just … the scheme — knowing how they want me to play and things of that sort,” he said. “But … it was definitely football-is-football. I was getting one-on-ones — I need to win those. I’m going to get back [to] the drawing board, check the film and see what I can do better.”
Whether it was a good start or a bad start, the important thing for the Bears is that it was a start. There are still eight games and nine weeks remaining for Sweat to get acclimated to Matt Eberflus’ defense.
“Four days, you have to go out there and play — that’s not easy to do for anybody,” defensive tackle Andrew Billings said. “He stepped up and did the best he could. He played hard. He didn’t worry about making mistakes, because we expect that — [after] four days. He played hard.”
As for the contract, which makes him the fifth-highest-paid pass rusher in the NFL by average annual value ($24.5 million), the low-key Sweat was not in the frame of mind to celebrate.
“It’s huge. That’s what you’ve been working for [since] you got into the league,” he said. “I thought it was great. But I more so was worried about getting a win.”
If anything, Sunday was a reminder of just how much pressure there is for him to produce. And he seemed to acknowledge that.
“It’s security. But it just also creates more [responsibility] for me to get it done,” Sweat said. “It gives me a sense of security for me to go out here, and if I get injured, I know I’m protected. But that’s not really what I’m worried about. I’m worried about getting dubs [victories], getting production.”
That figures to come in time, as Sweat becomes more familiar with the Bears’ scheme, the playbook and his teammates. Sunday at least gave him an indication of that.
“For sure,” Sweat said. “I feel like once I get more comfortable, once I start knowing the plays, I can play faster. But we’re gonna see.”
Indeed we will, and the process doesn’t get much easier this week against the Panthers on Thursday at Soldier Field. He only has three days to prepare for that one. A week into his Bears career, Sweat can’t catch a break.
