Justin Fields Winning Over Former Packer

As a former Green Bay Packers tight end, Robert Tonyan Jr. owns three distinctions.

For one, he has extensive knowledge of the Packers fans who Bears teammate Justin Jones described with expletives after Monday's minicamp practice.

He also already has great knowledge of the Bears offense coming into his first year since Luke Getsy's attack is the one the Packers use.

"Yeah. I think JJ is a little opinionated on that. I like that. I like that fire in him."

Finally, he had a very up close view of the Bears passing attack in the past. So when he sees something different now from quarterback Justin Fields and the passing game than he saw while with the Packers, it's easier to listen and believe forecasts of big things ahead now for the Bears.

"Yeah, I mean, from what I saw last year, obviously, there wasn't very much passing game, but I was very impressed with Justin and, obviously, the O-line that has made a jump," said Tonyan, the McHenry, Ill. native who spent his first five seasons with the Bears' arch-rivals. "Going and getting Darnell (Wright), going to get (guard) Nate (Davis) and just kind of where people are at, the understanding of the offense, like I said, I'm just impressed with the growth that was going on.

"I think we're churning the right direction and, yeah, I'm excited to get back for training camp and actually really compete and, yeah, get it cracking."

As for Fields himself, Tonyan sees all the intangibles necessary to succeed.

"Yeah, he's an impressive young player," Tonyan said. "Obviously a great athlete, but he is very competitive and self-reflective and he knows when he could be better and whatnot.

"So when you have a competitive person who is internally motivated and a leader like he is and he’s continuing to grow, I'm very impressed with him. And he's only going to continue to grow and get better."

The description Tonyan gave of his attempt to get to know Fields and build closer ties differs somewhat from the situation he came from in Green Bay. This is because he sees OTAs and offseason work as essential for bringing a team together but in Green Bay his quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, was avoiding offseason work.

Tonyan said he gets to know Fields better by, "...being, honestly, like a genuine person.

"Honestly, I like talking to people, getting to know people. If you just have a locker room where people go in there and you're sitting on your phone and you're just chilling, you’d be surprised at how many people nowadays are just head down on their phone. Just team bonding activities. That's what OTAs really are here for.

"You know, you're gonna learn offense and you're gonna figure stuff out and you're gonna compete, but what OTAs really are is to have that down time and close time with those players that you don't get during the season because the season's long and grueling."

So OTAs aren't about living by yourself in a dark hut for several days. They're about forging new ties with new teammates.

"That's what coach Flus has been big on," Tonyan said. "Trying to get people to know each other, trust each other, love each other and then you'll go that extra mile for your brother."

Tonyan has a similar high opinion of Getsy and the work the former Packers assistant is doing within the attack. Getsy was in Green Bay during three of Tonynan's five years there.

"He's just smart, he's awesome," Tonyan said. "He's really in there grinding to win games and make us better. Genuinely loves the men in this locker room, as well as all the coaches. They're trying to get to know you and they care about you and I think that's the biggest thing is building trust before you can just go in there and start coaching and telling people what to do."

Tonyan likes his new teammates and coaching situation enough that he's not about to disagree entirely with the expletive-filled description Jones had of Packer fans.

"I just heard about that," Tonyan said. "Yeah. It's funny."

Packer fans might not agree.

"I mean, I think any NFL team, people have their opinions on some fans and stuff like that and especially in a rivalry like this," Tonyan said. "Yeah. I think JJ is a little opinionated on that. I like that. I like that fire in him.

"But I mean, you can say about just about anything about any fan base. But, like I said, this rivalry is huge. It's one of the strongest in the NFL, so there's obviously going to be that banter for sure."

Tonyan can't specifically say Packer fans were getting obnoxious.

"Honestly, whatever stadium I went to I felt like that was the case," he said. "Ya know? Fans are wild. Especially when they've had a couple of drinks."

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