2025 Rookie Minicamp

[HisRoyalSweetness]

The roster for rookie minicamp:

[HisRoyalSweetness]

[HisRoyalSweetness]

Pressers:

8 minutes from the Head Coach:



5 minutes from the top draft pick:



16 minutes from the Day 2 picks:




Some nuggets:

Question:
"As you take a longer look at Trapillo, first and foremost what do you like about him now that you see him on the grass for the first time and what do you see him having the potential to do for you?"

Ben Johnson:
"Yeah, it's early to make too many assessments on that, but he's exactly what we thought he was going to be. He's super smart. I had him a meeting last night with him, meeting this morning with him, and he's able to apply those concepts right to the field immediately. So he's very advanced in that regard. Technique, fundamentals, he takes those seriously. Something we talked about this morning as a team, just transferring the little things that Coach Roushar, Coach DeVan are talking about in that meeting room and being apply them immediately. It's really impressive for a young guy."

Question:
"How did it feel to put an NFL uniform on for the first time and get out there?"

Shemar Turner:
"Oh man, it was surreal. Instead of taking a cart to the field today, I walked and just tried to soak it in and, you know, dream come true."

Question:
"Is there a weight they want to get you to or anything like that?"

Shemar Turner:
"Just, right now, not trying to get past 300. Trying to stay in the 290 to 295 range, somewhere in there."

Question:
"How did some of those Left Tackle movements, techniques that you're doing today feel to you? It feel natural?"

Ozzy Trapilo:
"Yeah. Throughout college I knew that I wanted to play in the NFL, so doing so you have to be versatile. That's the quickest way to get on the field. So after practice, even though I was a Right Tackle the last two years in college, working Left, making sure that it's still smooth, still feels good, especially after the season I was working more Left than Right just because catching up for lost time. So it felt good today."

Question:
"Would it be the end of the world if you didn't start at Left Tackle? Have you kind of thought about that scenario if that plays out?"

Ozzy Trapilo:
"Yeah, it definitely wouldn't be the end of the world. My goal here it to play football, to get on the football as soon as I can, so I'm going to do whatever I can to get that done. But at the same time I know I have a lot to work on as a player. I'm a rookie. I'm not going to show up and be the best. My goal is to become the best player I can. I'm not just going to do it without work. It takes a lot of work. It takes a lot of time. So my job is not to be results-driven. It's to be process-driven."

Question:
"The chip on you shoulder a couple of weeks ago after you were picked on Day 2 instead of Day 1, is that something that you leave behind on draft weekend or is that something you're carrying with you here?"

Luther Burden III:
"No, that's staying with me forever. So, everybody who passed up on me gotta pay."

Question:
"For your jersey number, why number 87?"

Luther Burden III:
"I mean all the good numbers are gone, so..."

[wab]

Ozzy might be the leanest OT the Bears have had in a long time. And I mean that in a good way.

[dplank]

Ozzy might be the leanest OT the Bears have had in a long time. And I mean that in a good way.

Yea I was immediately impressed with his build. That dude is massive and is going to bulk up THE RIGHT WAY as he gets a little older. He carries his weight really well.

[HisRoyalSweetness]

Eric Bienemy coaching (the PG version):



Eric Bienemy coaching (the R-rated version):





And some receiving drills with RBs and TEs getting downfield to block. Monongai stands out with his speed, pop and drive on his blocks.

[HisRoyalSweetness]

16 minutes with the OC and DC:



Key nuggets for those who don't want to sit through the whole presser:

Question:
"We saw Luther go down at the end of 7 on 7. Did he just get the wind knocked out of him or...?"

Declan Doyle:
"I'm just going to defer all questions on injuries to Coach, so he'll answer those He's going to have a better feel for that than me."

Question:
"What did you like when you first watched Loveland on tape? What were some of the things that jumped out at you?"

Declan Doyle:
"He's competitive. He's super competitive. I was a Tight Ends Coach before this. He was a guy that I actually, I started watching Colston near the end of last season. I had a quality control coach that brought his tape and Tyler Warren's tape and so I got to watch Colston a little bit right at the end of last year and I was like 'Man I would love to be able to coach this guy!' It just so happens that I end up here and we end up acquiring him and we're certainly very excited about the competitiveness, the person. He's been out there, he's been really inquisitive and he's very involved just right from the rip."

Question:
"Kyle was obviously very successful in college. What about him do you think translates well to the NFL and in what areas are you guys going to have to try and coach him up and get better?"

Declan Doyle:
"I think there's a lot of areas we're going to have to coach him up, but he is a very physical player, he's very willing and then the best thing about him that translates is that he's a consummate pro. The last couple of days we've been able to meet with these guys, he's front and centre. He's taking notes, he's attentive, you're asking a question of the group he's answering and I think he's going to carry himself that way. I think that guys that do handle themselves that way give themselves a great shot."

Question:
"As you've gotten more familiar with Shemar, what stands out to you about his skillset?"

Dennis Allen:
"He's athletic. I think that was the first thing that we saw. You see explosion and power with this player. I think he's got the right temperament for what we're looking for. I think we'll have to put the saddle on him and break him a little bit, but we'd rather have to pull the reins back rather than have to whip him to get him to go. So we're excited about working with him.

Question:
"With Shemar, I know that he's talked about his versatility. It's something that he really holds dear. Do you see him as an Edge?"

Dennis Allen:
"I think the first thing we've got to do is we've got play him in at Defensive Tackle and let him learn there, let him develop there both as a 3-Technique and as a Nose. And then we'll worry about trying to see that flexibility. From a skillset standpoint, yeah he's got some flexibility. We'll just have to see what he can learn and how quickly he can learn and adapt to what we're doing."

Question:
"You said yesterday you have a prototype at Linebacker that you like. In what ways did Ruben Hyppolite fit what you envision at that position?

Dennis Allen:
"Well the number one thing is he can run and the things that we're going ask our 'backers to have to do, they've got to be able to match up with Tight Ends, with Running Backs, at times they've got to be able to match up with Wide Receivers. Sometimes that's carrying things vertical down the field, so we're looking for guys that can run. And then we're looking for guys that have a physical mentality, a physical demeanour. And I felt like he exhibited those things on tape."

Question:
"When he came here for a visit, what did you want to learn about him and what what did you take away?"

Dennis Allen:
"I'll tell you what I did learn is that he's very mature and he's very business-oriented. He's got his life together off the field, which is going to allow him to be able to focus on the field with the football. So there's not going to be a lot of outside distractions with this guy and I think that's a positive. I think he's going to be a guy that's going to learn how to be a pro really quickly because of that maturity level."

Question:
"Zah Frazier - what stood out to you about him?"

Dennis Allen:
"Well I think probably the biggest thing is you've got a big, long press Corner that can run. He made a play out there today over on the left sideline defensively as you look at it and that's kind of what we saw with him. Here's another guy that's a young developmental Corner. He's got a lot of things he's got to learn, but again he's got the tools for us to work with. And who better to work with him than Al Harris, a guy that's got kind of a similar frame and played a long time in this league and had a lot of success? So we're excited about getting the opportunity to work with him and helping him grow."

[HisRoyalSweetness]

16 minutes with the first two Day 2 picks:



Once again key nuggets for those who don't want to sit through the whole presser:

Question:
"You said this is where you wanted to get drafted. What was it about the Bears that made you say 'I want to come here'?"

Zah Frazier:
"Family-oriented. I came from a family-oriented place before I got here. So UTSA was family-oriented. Here is family-oriented that I want to be a part of. So that family bonding is something I want to be a part of."

Question:
"What's the key to learning the stuff in terms of learning it well enough where you can just play and not have to think about what you're doing? Do you spend like extra time with a teammate or something like that at night?

Zah Frazier:
"Oh yeah. We met up last night, a group of us all the Corners that's here. We all met up yesterday in the hotel and we just went over the playbook, went over install one and two so we wouldn't make the same mistakes we made yesterday. And we wanted to have a better practice today as a whole group and not just one person. So that's how we're all helping each other, you know no man left behind for sure."

Question:
"Getting together in the hotel last night, was that something you guys did on your own or did they ask you to do that?"

Zah Frazier:
"We did it on our own. We felt like it was a lot of learning yesterday. It was a lot of amazing stuff. So we didn't want to come and do that same thing today, so that's why we met last night. And we got ahead of that. We went over stuff from yesterday to be in front of it today so we can have a good practice today."

Question:
"Why do you feel the need to kind of take on more of that leadership?"

Zah Frazier:
"Because everybody's asking questions and I feel like if I know it I need to tell everybody and if they know it they're going to tell me too. So it's all just working hand-in-hand, working with each other, and not trying to see each other fail honestly."

Question:
"Ruben you said you were focusing on just one position. Is that Mike?"

Ruben Hyppolite II:
"I'm playing all 3, I'm learning all 3. So I'm rotating, learning all 3. We're all circulating and doing that. So I said I was learning one, but you know I was just really learning all 3 and just knowing my place and piece in that."

Question:
"Ruben, a lot of the post-draft coverage, like on a national scale even, people thought this might be a 7th round pick, a UDFA, not a 4th rounder. Do you hear those things and if so how do you internalise that?"

Ruben Hyppolite II:
"Misery loves company. It’s a lot of people who didn’t know what I had to go through to get this opportunity. Just look at my story. It's not going to the Combine, not going to the Senior Bowl, Shrine Bowl. I had the Hula Bowl, which I give a lot of credit to Nick Logan for trusting in me to play in that game, but just that and then I called the NFS twice to see if I had a Combine invite. They said no, so going through that.

And then going through training the whole Combine season, just chopping wood, carrying water, going through it every day. And then having my one opportunity at Pro Day, doing that, and then I went on like 15 visits, took like 30 flights in two weeks, just back and forth across the country, you know, doing my meetings and stuff like that.

All of that is just a culmination of me getting my opportunity now. I definitely don’t take it for granted. I’m very grateful for everybody upstairs for believing in me and my ability. Now it’s time for me to put it together and just... I just love my story for anyone who’s out there who thinks that they need things like the Combine, things like a Senior Bowl invite, who thinks that they need those things to get drafted. You don’t. You just gotta put your best foot forward. You gotta run fast and you’ve just gotta be your best self every day. And I feel like I’m showing that. I’ve got a lot of messages, a lot of love, a lot of hate too, but that’s what comes with it, so I’m all for it."

[HisRoyalSweetness]

The good news for Day 3 is that Luther Burden was back out there showing no ill effects after he fell catching a 60 yard pass in a 7-on-7 drill towards the end of yesterday's practice and left the field with the trainers.





Hyppolite doing a drill:



And a look behind the scenes at the guys getting their equipment sorted:

[LacertineForest]

The gear fitting one is pretty interesting, if not all that in-depth. Cool to see some of the tech they're using for this.

[HisRoyalSweetness]

9 minutes from the STC:



13 minutes from the final two picks of the Bears draft class:



Key nuggets for those who don't want to sit through the whole presser:

Question:
"Where have you got most of your reps the last 3 days?"

Luke Newman:
"Since I got here the majority focus has been at Left Guard, but obviously that versatility was a huge reason why I was drafted, why I'm here and I look forward to working the other spots, Right Guard and Center as well... You know I have the Tackle background, but obviously working the interior three is going to be a major focus and we'll just work more of the others as summer and spring go along."

Question:
"Of course you're going to play wherever they put you, but where do you feel like you lock in positionally with the flow state where it just feels natural for you?"

Luke Newman:
"So obviously Guard has been more in my natural field this past season, but you know really this offseason the primary focus has been Center. I definitely have a good understanding of how to play the position intellectually. Obviously it's a new playbook here and there's an adjustment period for that as well, but I really think that Center all-in-all fits more of my body type, fits more of what my strengths are. And obviously I have that Guard flexibility as well, but I really look forward to learning and adapting to Center a lot more."

Question:
"Looking at your stats the last couple of years they're elite. What explanation have you gotten for how you can produce the way you do in college and yet there are a lot of other Running Backs drafted ahead of you in the draft?"

Kyle Monangai:
"Yeah, I don't concern myself with who went before me and all those things. The draft's over with, it's in my rear view for me. But definitely something I'll take with me and some fuel, a chip on my shoulder, but that's kind of been my whole career, my path to getting here. The things that allowed me to excel in college, I’ve got to figure that out at this level first and then use those things to my advantage and then I expect to see the same results."

Question:
"What are those things?"

Kyle Monangai:
"The little things, the little details. This being a professional sport and playing with grown men, at the end of the day everyone's talented, everyone's got the certain things that are necessary to be a football player. It's the little details that makes the great guys great, that allows them to see the results they see. So I've got to figure out what those are for me. I've got a little idea, but now that I'm here I get to kind of fine-tune those things and figure it out and then apply it to my game."

Question:
"You didn't get a ton of opportunity to do it in college, but it seems like you have really good hands receiving, at least from what we've seen out here. How would you evaluate yourself as a pass catcher out of the backfield?"

Kyle Monangai:
"I think it's something that i focus on, something that, like you said, I didn't get as many opportunities to do it in college. I wish I could have, but my role on the team wasn't that. So whatever my role is going to be that Coach Johnson wants to put me in, Coach Doyle wants to put me in, if I can showcase that then I'll showcase that. But it's definitely something I work on each day."

Question:
"You said you were overlooked growing up. How so?"

Kyle Monangai:
“I think my football career path has kind of been one of like ‘He’s a good player but there’s just something off, like something that I don’t think I’m going to put him on the pedestal he should be.’ I was never always talked about in the top guys usually, from Pop Warner to middle school, high school, college, and then to now even. So it’s not a new space, not a new environment for me. It’s a role that I embrace, something I take on. And I think it’s honestly what’s made me the player I am. I think it's given me the fuel, the motivation to be the Running Back I am, the football player I am."

Question:
"Is it a size thing? Why do you think?"

Kyle Monangai:
"I don't even concern myself with why. I just go and prove it to myself first and then, you know, it proves itself on the game day."

Question:
"Ball security is a really good trait of yours. How did that become one of your best skills?"

Kyle Monangai:
"Something you focus on. You know, grip strength, one of them things that I do day in, day out. Hand strength, focusing on taking care of the football, being in traffic, putting two hands on the football, things like that. But zero fumbles in college is not something that just happened by chance, it's something I definitely focused and worked on."

And an article on Monangai, Turner and Trapilo's childhoods and the roles their mothers played in their journeys to the NFL:

A Mother's Love | Bears rookies fulfill NFL dreams with support from moms

https://www.chicagobears.com/news/a-mot ... -from-moms

[Bears Whiskey Nut]

Watching Ozzy do some of the drills, and then to see him standing there during the equipment fitting. He's really big, and as WAB said, really lean in a good way. He has a HUGE frame. You could easily add weight to it, but I'm not sure you'd want to. He's already 315lbs. I could see him playing at 330lbs, just to give him some extra oomph, but I'm not sure you'd want him much heavier than that.

[dplank]

Watching Ozzy do some of the drills, and then to see him standing there during the equipment fitting. He's really big, and as WAB said, really lean in a good way. He has a HUGE frame. You could easily add weight to it, but I'm not sure you'd want to. He's already 315lbs. I could see him playing at 330lbs, just to give him some extra oomph, but I'm not sure you'd want him much heavier than that.

Generally speaking, you want him to carry as much weight as he can without degrading his movement skills. Some guys can carry more weight and still move well, it's a balancing act that is tailored specifically to each player, their body type, age, what they'll be asked to do, etc.

[Bears Whiskey Nut]

Ben Johnson and the Bears have really assembled quite a coaching staff. Who knows how that will translate, but you look at some of the names and it's like, "we have him too!?" Names like Press Taylor, Eric Bieniemy, Al Harris, Randle El, etc. It's pretty impressive. Now we just have to hope that they can convert it into wins.

[Bears Whiskey Nut]

Watching Ozzy do some of the drills, and then to see him standing there during the equipment fitting. He's really big, and as WAB said, really lean in a good way. He has a HUGE frame. You could easily add weight to it, but I'm not sure you'd want to. He's already 315lbs. I could see him playing at 330lbs, just to give him some extra oomph, but I'm not sure you'd want him much heavier than that.

Generally speaking, you want him to carry as much weight as he can without degrading his movement skills. Some guys can carry more weight and still move well, it's a balancing act that is tailored specifically to each player, their body type, age, what they'll be asked to do, etc.

Looking at his frame. It screams stout and athletic. He moves like he's 5" shorter and 40lbs lighter. It's pretty impressive.

[LacertineForest]

Ben Johnson and the Bears have really assembled quite a coaching staff. Who knows how that will translate, but you look at some of the names and it's like, "we have him too!?" Names like Press Taylor, Eric Bieniemy, Al Harris, Randle El, etc. It's pretty impressive. Now we just have to hope that they can convert it into wins.

Agree with this, except for Press Taylor, who was a big "who the hell is that?" when he was hired. We'll see what he brings, but we all know the offense starts and stops with Ben, anyway.

[Bears Whiskey Nut]

Ben Johnson and the Bears have really assembled quite a coaching staff. Who knows how that will translate, but you look at some of the names and it's like, "we have him too!?" Names like Press Taylor, Eric Bieniemy, Al Harris, Randle El, etc. It's pretty impressive. Now we just have to hope that they can convert it into wins.

Agree with this, except for Press Taylor, who was a big "who the hell is that?" when he was hired. We'll see what he brings, but we all know the offense starts and stops with Ben, anyway.

Press Taylor was absolutely a known commodity in coaching circles. I had certainly heard of him.

[HurricaneBear]

Sorry if this was covered im a bit behind...I saw somewhere LB3 got hurt then came back the next day. What happened to him? Just like a wind knocked out of him?

[HisRoyalSweetness]

Sorry if this was covered im a bit behind...I saw somewhere LB3 got hurt then came back the next day. What happened to him? Just like a wind knocked out of him?

I refer to the honorable gentleman to the above posts:

Key nuggets for those who don't want to sit through the whole presser:

Question:
"We saw Luther go down at the end of 7 on 7. Did he just get the wind knocked out of him or...?"

Declan Doyle:
"I'm just going to defer all questions on injuries to Coach, so he'll answer those He's going to have a better feel for that than me."

The good news for Day 3 is that Luther Burden was back out there showing no ill effects after he fell catching a 60 yard pass in a 7-on-7 drill towards the end of yesterday's practice and left the field with the trainers.

[LacertineForest]

Agree with this, except for Press Taylor, who was a big "who the hell is that?" when he was hired. We'll see what he brings, but we all know the offense starts and stops with Ben, anyway.

Press Taylor was absolutely a known commodity in coaching circles. I had certainly heard of him.

Sure, and that's what I'd heard about him after he was hired. I see him as the young-up-and-comer who still prove he's capable of a bigger role whereas the others have done it before. The others are all well-established coaches with good track records who also had playing careers in the NFL.

[Arkansasbear]

Sorry if this was covered im a bit behind...I saw somewhere LB3 got hurt then came back the next day. What happened to him? Just like a wind knocked out of him?

It appears it was nothing. He was back at practice the next day.

[G08]

Booker is looking thicker

[HisRoyalSweetness]

The Bears have dropped a few clips of vets like the one of Booker above on their twitter. OTAs don't start until Tuesday, so I'm not sure where these have come from. I assume they're from the Voluntary Mini Camp held last month, but it seems odd to only be posting them now.

Anyway, here they are...







Nice to see them practising the Peanut Punch and Randle-El being active in drills. Also you can see how much quicker some of the RBs are than others even in a simple drill.

[wab]

Daniel Hardy looks MASSIVE in that peanut punch clip. Just stacked.

[Bbpeoria]

Daniel Hardy looks MASSIVE in that peanut punch clip. Just stacked.

This was my thought as well. He is a frigging brick house. Booker looks a little bigger, but Hardy is almost DT sized body.

[Johnny Bollocks]

Nice to see them practising the Peanut Punch and Randle-El being active in drills. Also you can see how much quicker some of the RBs are than others even in a simple drill.

Agreed. Kyle Monangai looks really sharp and quick in his cut. I know it's one rep of one route, but that was crisp as Heck.