Before his first day of training camp, Bears first-round draft pick Darnell Wright made a rookie mistake — and it worked in his favor. Maybe the Bears’ luck is changing.
After being told to come to camp in shape when the Bears completed their offseason program in June, Wright read the wrong workout program — the wide receivers instead of the offensive linemen. But it all worked out when the 6-6, 335-pound Wright “crushed” the conditioning test — “like, he didn’t break a sweat,” general manager Ryan Poles said. — and came to camp in the best shape of his life.
That’s a good foundation for Wright entering a rookie season with high expectations. Wright, the 10th overall pick of the draft, was the Bears’ starting right tackle from his first practice in OTAs. But the hope is that he will play at a high level, even with the expected rookie mistakes.
Wright said he thinks he’s on track, but there’s a long way to go.
“It’s been good,” Wright said. “When I first got through OTAs, it was definitely a big jump that I needed to make. Through the offseason, I just trained and I think during this training camp, I’ll make another jump, then the preseason. It just builds on top of it.”
As part of his offseason conditioning, Wright lost about 16 pounds, and feels better for it.
“It definitely feels better,” he said. “It’s a little bit of an adjustment in terms of translating power still. I feel like I’m more powerful because I didn’t lose any muscle mass. You definitely feel a step quicker.”
It’s too early to tell how effective Wright will be, with the Bears still in non-padded practices. But offensive coordinator Luke Getsy likes what he sees.
“He’s done a really great job of … staying focused and working his butt off to get better at everything,” Getsy said. “I just want to make sure we all stay on him and stay working together to make sure he continues to stay focused and gets better every day. If he does that, he’s going to help our football team.”
