Bears tight end Bennett returns; promises he'll fit right in
After missing the first two months of the Bears' voluntary off-season program, including all 10 organized team activities, Pro Bowl tight end Martellus Bennett made his first off-season appearance at Halas Hall and proclaimed it a smooth re-entry.
“It's just like going to a new school,” Bennett said after the first day of a three-day minicamp. “I fit in everywhere I go. I'm like a dark-skinned chameleon.”
Halfway through his four-year, $20.4 million pact, Bennett wants a new deal, believing that he has outperformed the contract in the wake of last season's 90-catch, 916-yard season. Boycotting the voluntary portion of the off-season program was his only leverage and within his rights under the collective bargaining agreement. But it was unsuccessful and hardly a way to ingratiate himself with the new coaching staff and front office.
Still, coach John Fox downplayed any ill effects Bennett's absence may have had.
“It's kind of the rules of our league,” Fox said. “It's what we have to operate with. My job is to make sure he's the best he can be, and that's what I'll be trying to do moving forward.”
Fox was complimentary regarding Bennett's knowledge of the offense, even though he has missed all the previous classroom work devoted to learning coordinator Adam Gase's new scheme.
“I think he's been looking at his iPad; that was evident,” Fox said. “(But) even he'd tell you that there's nothing like practicing football to get in shape. He's obviously been in an off-season conditioning program. He handled himself pretty well.”
Bennett's off-season work was done at Brandon Marshall's Fit Speed athletic performance facility in South Florida, and he's fine physically. But he has not yet interacted with new coaches and teammates.
Fox said he's eager to get to know Bennett as well as he has the players who have been working at Halas Hall for two months.
“One of the things I stress is being the same guy every day,” Fox said. “And really, to understand what that is, you have to get to know him. I thought he had a good first practice, and I'm pleased with his progress.”
Missing this week's minicamp could have cost Bennett about $72,000 in fines, and he says he intends to be at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais when the Bears report for the start of training camp in July. He insists he won't be behind the curve in assimilating the new offense.
“We're only out here for three days, and then it's training camp, and they install all over again,” he said. “A lot of guys (already) know a lot of stuff we're doing. But I'm pretty intelligent, so I pick up on it pretty quick.”
Quarterback Jay Cutler vouched for Bennett.
“He's supersmart,” Cutler said. “It's going to come pretty quickly. He was out there (running) some plays that we were going to hold him back from, but he picks things up so quickly.”
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