The butt-kicking was scheduled for April 8 at 11 a.m. Eastern time.
Bears offensive line coach Chris Morgan met with Tennessee right tackle Darnell Wright on his home turf — the Volunteers’ practice facility — and began putting him through positional drills.
“He kicked my ass, if we’re being honest,’’ Wright said Thursday night from his draft party at the Knoxville, Tennessee, Hyatt Place, minutes after the Bears drafted him 10th.
Pre-draft workouts are different than practices. There aren’t teammates standing in line behind you, waiting to jump into drills while you catch your breath.
“You definitely see what you’re made of a little bit in that little session,” he said.
Especially with Morgan running it.
“You’re 15 minutes in, and you’re going back-to-back-to-back,” Wright said. “But then you’re still going back-to-back-to-back, and another 10 minutes pass. Another maybe 10 minutes pass.
“He just wanted to see if I’d quit, and I wouldn’t quit.”
Morgan, whom the Bears’ front office considers one of the best offensive teachers in the sport, liked what he saw. The feeling was mutual.
“It’s rare that you get to go somewhere where you really get to get coached by someone you really like and you feel like can take your game to the next level,” Wright said. “That’s what I feel like C-Mo can do for me. He already told me it’s gonna be hard, but I’ve never shied away from hard. I just want to get the best out of myself, and I think coach C-Mo is gonna be perfect for me. It’s just going to be perfect.”
Bears general manager Ryan Poles flew on a private jet with Morgan to work out Wright. It was the first time he accompanied an assistant for an individual workout this year, but Poles wanted to get a feel for the tackle. The Bears put him through classroom work, position drills and even conditioning. Wright did up-downs. Morgan would call one play and, just before the snap, change it to see how quickly Wright could mentally pivot.
“We just would trigger and trigger and trigger,” Poles said.
The Bears “brought him to deep water to see if he could swim or not,” Poles said.
He could.
“It was a really big piece,” Poles said late Thursday night. “There’s an attitude, a mental toughness that you have to have to play the game.”
Tennessee coach Josh Heupel didn’t see the workout but heard plenty about it afterward.
“That’s probably the most extensive and intensive one-on-one workout that I’ve heard of in my coaching career,” he said Friday. “But I also think it speaks to why he was wanting to be drafted there and to be able to get a full read on the kid. Athletic, talent, right? His physicality but also how he’s going to compete when he’s maybe tired or uncomfortable. And I think that’s a huge part of the reason why he’s a Bear.”
Morgan told Wright on the phone Thursday night how hard it was not to tell him sooner that he was the Bears’ preferred offensive tackle. It was a surprise to the outside world. Among the four top choices entering the draft, Wright ranked third or fourth among prognosticators behind Ohio State’s Paris Johnson Jr. and Northwestern’s Peter Skoronski. Johnson was drafted sixth by the Cardinals.
The Bears believe Wright will help protect quarterback Justin Fields, who last year was pressured on 14.75% of his drop-backs, the highest mark in modern NFL history for someone throwing at least 300 passes. Fields Tweeted his approval of the pick, writing “Yessirrrr” next to the Bears’ announcement.
“That’s what I’m here for — for anything [Fields] needs,” Wright said. “That’s my job — to keep him clean.”
His 6-5, 333-pound frame and nasty style make him a prototypical right tackle. He figures to start there; Braxton Jones, for now, stays on the left side.
The Huntington, West Virginia, native was a four-year starter, playing 27 games at right tackle, 17 at left tackle and two at right guard. He played 13 games on the left side in 2021 but moved back to the right last year and was named an All-SEC player. He’s a dominant run blocker — on 388 runs last year, he had zero blown blocks.
The Bears, who brought Wright to Halas Hall for a pre-draft meeting, were impressed by how much he improved each year.
Yessirrrr https://t.co/waZjBMDBJl
— Justin Fields (@justnfields) April 28, 2023
On the left side in 2021, he gave up three sacks, 13 hurries and one hit in 495 passing snaps. In 507 passing snaps at right tackle last season, Wright allowed no sacks, six hurries and two hits.
Wright’s fans around the league pointed to the fact that Alabama edge rusher Will Anderson — who was the first defensive player drafted at No. 3 overall — said that Wright was the toughest blocker he faced in 2022. Anderson had only one pressure against Wright.
“It was fun, and I just know what I can do,” Wright said. “You see it in the Alabama tape, but you see it in all the other tape, as well.”
Including at the Senior Bowl, where he was the American team’s offensive-line practice player of the week. His head coach there was another Bears assistant: Luke Getsy, his new offensive coordinator.
“It was like a full-circle moment,” Wright said.
