Chicago Bears' Mack revved up and ready to go

BOURBONNAIS - The Chicago Bears' Khalil Mack sprained an ankle in the first quarter at Miami during Week 6 last season.

That caused him to finish that game and play the following week against the New England Patriots at half speed (at best), and then miss the next two games against the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills.

If not for all that, it is reasonable to believe Mack would have won his second Defensive MVP Award in just his fifth season.

Minimally, it is completely safe to say that Mack, the Los Angeles' Rams Aaron Donald and the Houston Texans' J.J. Watt are the three best defensive players in the league, and three of the best weíve seen in quite some time.

Ted Monachino, Mack's new position coach, told Pro Football Weekly on Tuesday, "Nobody has a higher expectation of the way they play than Khalil. I donít have a higher expectation of Khalil than he has of himself.

"So every day he goes out there to prove it, and every day he goes out there to make sure everybody understands that he's worth it.

"And the time and resources this organization have put into that player, he's trying to make sure that that all pays dividends for us."

As if to amplify what Monachino said, Mack explained after practice why he thinks the Bears' defense can be even better this season than it was last year.

"That's the point," he said. "That's the point of emphasis. We're not really focusing on last year but just continuing to come out and work on the little things and get better as a group.

"The little things would be running to the ball and getting off of blocks sooner, all those different intangibles that you need as a defense."

It's that attitude that has convinced Monachino that Mack's value extends well beyond his own almost freakish skill set.

"It's nice to have that leader by example in your position group," his coach said. "But his attitude and leadership skills translate to both sides of the ball, translate to the locker room, translate to special teams, and all of our guys look to him for that leadership."

What was most remarkable about Mackís all-pro campaign last season was the fact that he had no training camp at all while in a contract holdout with the Oakland Raiders. Just seven days after being traded to the Bears, Mack went out and gave one of the great single-game individual performances in NFL history in the opening-game, last-minute loss to the Packers at Green Bay.

Asked how different it has been for him so far this season in his first Bears training camp, Mack said: "Oh, man, it's fun. It's fun. You have the DB's, the linebackers, the D-line, everything is effort. You know what I mean?

"You can give what you give, and they go out do their job. But everybody is doing the same, making plays. And that's what everybody aims for."

In spite of his incredible first year in Chicago, Mack appeared moody at times and clearly wasn't a big fan of the spotlight or visiting with the media.

But so far this summer settled in with his new team, Mack has been much more at ease,

He's still not a fan of the spotlight because he is remarkably humble for such a special player, but while extremely soft-spoken he has been much more comfortable in interviews and speaking for the defense.

Mack talked about the vibe on his side of the ball so far in Bourbonnais, saying, "Oh, man, you've got to have that cohesiveness. It's an energy that you feel when you're out there. You can't help but bounce around and feel light because everybody is flying around to the ball and wants to make a play.

For fans still worried about the defense's transition from Vic Fangio to Chuck Pagano at coordinator, Mack said there is nothing to worry about.

"The same energy and the same effort and the play call can't really change that, you know what I'm saying?" he said. "That's the beautiful thing about this group. I mean, yeah, absolutely, absolutely effortless. That's all you can ask for."

When you have a Khalil Mack, there aren't a lot of reasons or need to ask for too much more.

• Hub Arkush, the executive editor of Pro Football Weekly, can be reached at harkush@profootballweekly.com or on Twitter @Hub_Arkush.