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Montez Sweat Gets Strong Bears Endorsement After Chicago Loses Edge-Rush Option

After losing out on A.J. Epenesa, Ben Johnson praised Montez Sweat's 2025 season, signaling the Bears still believe he can anchor their shaky edge rush.
Gene Chamberlain|
Montez Sweat pressures Packers QB Jordan Love last season.
Montez Sweat pressures Packers QB Jordan Love last season. | Matt Marton-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

Bears defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo continued going through work on the field Wednesday in his recovery from an Achilles tendon tear and coach Ben Johnson isn't quite as certain when he can anticipate the return of their other injured edge rusher, Shemar Turner.

They both were injured at the same point in 2025 but Turner's ACL tear is being handled cautiously.

“We'll see with Shemar, this summer's going to be a big part for him," Johnson said at Wednesday's minicamp. "We'll have a good six weeks off of see where he's at when we come back to camp.

"But in terms of Dayo, this is really a bonus for us. We weren't quite sure when we started the offseason program that we would get him for any length of time. The fact that he's on the field, he wants to be out there, it's just another step forward in terms of him gaining confidence again and how he's moving. He's done a great job being attentive in meetings and I know he was really itching to get back out there with his teammates. It's a step in the right direction for sure.”

It's all part of the most controversial situation facing the Bears heading into 2026. They failed to bring in a big name edge rusher to complement Montez Sweat. On Wednesday afternoon, they lost another chance at one they brought in for a look when A.J. Epenesa signed with the Eagles.

At least they have Sweat and Johnson is appreciative of his efforts last year, even while many Bears fans targeted him on social media apparently for not doing enough considering he is the NFL's 12th-highest paid edge player.

Sweat has been practicing at mandatory minicamp after he wasn't seen at Bears OTA sessions the media could attend.

“My appreciation grew even more," Johnson said of Sweat. "I loved him during the season, but when you watch the self-scout after the year, I think this was a guy that played at a very high level. I talked to him yesterday about it.

"I would argue it was the best year of his career. Whether that showed up statistically or not, that's debatable, but his ability to play the run and play the pass, I thought he did a really nice job. Hopefully it's something that we can piggyback on and carry that momentum into this year.”

Sweat returns the favor here, calling Johnson the main reason the team succeeded last year.

"Yeah, we just know Ben is all about winning," Sweat said. "He don't really care about nothing else so I don't care about nothing else but winning. So everybody just kind of hones in on winning."

It became apparent to players last year very early in offseason and training camp how much Johnson cared by the way he approached practices. It was all-out and as physical as could be allowed.

"I mean he just, he worked the (dung) out of us," Sweat said. "We just was all on one accord. Everybody was on the same page and everything was really about winning. If it wasn't about winning then it was non-existent."

If they didn't get the message about Johnson early, by year's end they did.

"I probably could have turned to maybe the end of the year when we didn't have any heaters outside in the cold," Sweat recalled. "He was getting us ready for the winter. So yeah, that was a little different."

They didn't look cold against the Packers and Rams in the playoffs, that much was certain.

As for their pass rush, because they didn't add someone yet and can't be sure about Odeyingbo or Turner, it could still happen. What Sweat thinks people are forgetting is the progress of third-year edge Austin Booker. He had 4 1/2 sacks but they came in the final six games and then he had another in the playoffs. Another thing people tend to forget is the numbers he did have were based on less than half of the defensive snaps played. There were 1,071 defensive plays last season and Booker played only 521 because he missed the first seven games with a preseason knee injury.

It's anyone's guess what his total could have been if he had more time last year, just like the imagination can run wild about what he could do this season.

“He’s just scratching the surface," Sweat said. "He’s shown a lot of flashes of the type of player he can be. He’s still young and learning the ins and outs of being a pro, but the sky’s the limit for him.”

Booker could be the key player for the Bears' defense this year if some of the more proven players either rebound or avoid injuries, like Kyler Gordon and Jaylon Johnson.

As for Sweat, they'll just expect the same type of solid production if not better than his team-high totals of 10 sacks and 13 tackles for loss.

“I just want to be better than the year before, like DA was saying, being better in my fundamentals," Sweat said.

Maybe some of his critics will even warm up to him at that point.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.

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