Bears coach Matt Eberflus announced Thursday that quarterback Justin Fields, receiver DJ Moore, middle linebacker Tremaine Edmunds and safety Eddie Jackson have been voted season-long captains. A fifth honorary captain will be named for each game.
"The first rule of leadership is leading yourself," Eberflus said. "Everybody's a leader. We need leadership in every room from the first guy to the last guy. And we need discipline and habits have to be right. We have to do a great job of leading and following. Sometimes you take the lead and sometimes you also have to listen and follow who's in front. That's important that we do that as a group."
Moore, who was acquired in March from the Panthers in a blockbuster trade, provides an example for his teammates with his work ethic.
"He leads by example, and when he speaks, everybody listens," Eberflus said. "He is just a worker. He's a playmaker, so guys look up to him and that showed in the votes that he got."
Welcome back: Eberflus is happy that the Bears were able to re-sign Nathan Peterman to the 53-man roster Thursday, two days after the veteran quarterback was waived as part of final cuts.
"We're sure glad to have him back," Eberflus said. "He's really good for that room. Him and Justin [Fields] learned the offense together, so-to-speak, so they're speaking the same language, so they understand it really well. It's good to have him in the room."
Eberflus has not yet determined whether Peterman or undrafted rookie Tyson Bagent will serve as the No. 2 quarterback behind Fields.
"We don't know what's going to happen in the future with who's going to be up for the game, who's going to be the backup," Eberflus said. "We'll decide that as we go."
Position flexibility: Eberflus is excited about the addition of veteran interior offensive lineman Dan Feeney, who was acquired from the Dolphins Tuesday in exchange for a 2024 sixth-round pick.
Feeney, 29, has appeared in 96 NFL games with 64 starts over six seasons with the Chargers (2017-20) and Jets (2021-22), playing center and both guard spots.
"The position flex is obviously something that we coveted there to be an inside piece there for us in games, and the experience," Eberflus said. "There's a known and an unknown factor to playing a rookie and there's also a known factor to playing a veteran. You've got tape, you've seen him play, you know what he can do up at this level, so that's what it is."
Options available: With Teven Jenkins on injured reserve, the Bears are still in the process of determining who will start at center and guard in their Sept. 10 season opener against the Packers.
The trio likely will consist of some combination of Cody Whitehair, Nate Davis, Lucas Patrick, Ja'Tyre Carter and Feeney.
"We're going to let it play out throughout the course of this week coming up," Eberflus said. "We'll see where it goes. We have options. What's great is that if something happens during a game, you can slide in and move out and vice versa. That's what the injury situation in training camp afforded us to do, and we feel very comfortable about that.
"Now you don't like it during the time—you're like 'oh my gosh, we don't have the starters in there, what's going on this and that,'—but the whole time you're getting experience. Now during the course of the year when you have to do that, you're going to feel pretty comfortable doing that."
Packer week: Eberflus assured reporters that Fields understands the magnitude of the Bears-Packers rivalry.
"He understands the importance of it for the franchise, for the city, for everybody," Eberflus said. "He understands that, and he's excited about getting that done. He prepares consistently, though, I will say that. It doesn't matter what the opponent is. He's very consistent in his routine and how he goes about his business."
