EXTRA POINTS
Budding bromance
Quarterback Mitch Trubisky and tight end Adam Shaheen, the Bears’ first- and second- round picks, became fast friends after the team put them in the same hotel room for rookie minicamp. They stuck together for the offseason program, too.
‘‘[ Trubisky is] one of those guys that not only can hang out and be great on the football field, but you can go back and go to dinner with, go see a movie [ with],’’ Shaheen said. ‘‘[ He can] turn it off for the evening.’’ But not before Shaheen does. ‘‘ He’s a good roommate; he’s a great guy,’’ Shaheen said. ‘‘[ But] he’s not there much. He’s here [ at Halas Hall] till 9: 30 p. m. or 10. By that time, I might be asleep. He’s in here learning. The quarterback’s got obviously the most to learn, and he’s in here pretty much the whole time.’’
While Trubisky’s work habits have rubbed off on Shaheen, Trubisky said his daily routine has improved because of Shaheen. Trubisky has learned to go to bed early, too.
‘‘ He wants to learn; I want to learn,’’ Trubisky said. ‘‘ We’ve just got to keep getting better and keep studying [ the playbook]. This is our job, and we love what we do.’’
Mindset matters
The wholesale changes at quarterback — releasing Jay Cutler, signing Mike Glennon and drafting Trubisky — haven’t changed the mindset of the defense.
It can’t and it shouldn’t, inside linebacker Jerrell Freeman said.
‘‘ If my mindset was different from this year to next year, something would be wrong,’’ he said. ‘‘ My mindset is whoever is on the offense, whoever is leading that side of the ball, we’re going to get him the rock. That’s our job. Get off the field, get him the rock, get him the ball and let him throw the ball.’’
But outside linebacker Willie Young said there is a ‘‘ pretty different’’ atmosphere surrounding the Bears this season. He’s one of several players from the Phil Emery/ Marc Trestman era still with the team.
‘‘[ It’s] the sense of urgency,’’ Young said. ‘‘ There’s a lot of different factors that come into play, but I would say [ it’s] the atmosphere to win, to push ourselves beyond that point where we don’t think we can push any more.’’
The same farewell
John Fox said the final message he delivers to his team before breaking for the summer hasn’t changed much during his 16 seasons as an NFL head coach. Simply put, you want your players to work hard and to stay out of trouble.
‘‘ After embarking on a lot of these over the years, you see a lot,’’ Fox said. ‘‘ I don’t want to say you see everything, but hopefully they make good decisions. We’re trusting them that they’ll take good care of themselves and come back in good shape.’’
— Adam L. Jahns