Tez Effect: The Evolution

Story by Gabby Hajduk

This season, Thursday nights are for the Bears defensive line. At least that's what Montez Sweat decided.

Each week, the group gathers at Sweat's house for dinner — which features wings or sandwiches — and Thursday Night Football. Players typically arrive before kickoff but are welcome to come and go as they please.

Before that week's primetime matchup begins, Sweat pulls up the Bears' film from their previous game. Despite having gone over it in meetings at Halas Hall earlier in the week, the group reviews it again. Everyone is welcome to give their perspective, bounce ideas off each other and then prep for the next opponent.

"It gets the chemistry right — all of us rushing as one," Sweat said.

"I just felt like it was something that I needed to do. I've got the tools and the leeway to do those type of things, the space to do it. So why not?"

During Thursday Night Football, the gathering turns into more of a casual hangout. Sure, the players talk about the game and what the competing teams are doing well, but it's more about spending time as friends versus being in work mode, whether that's playing pool or striking up a card game.

It's a low-pressure, optional event, with a simple intent — foster team camaraderie. And it's paying off.

"I feel like we're all genuinely cool with each other," rookie Austin Booker said. "It's not even like a formal D-line dinner. For Tez, it's just 'having my guys over that I know in Chicago.' That's the difference between us and other situations. We're just actually cool with each other, we're not just teammates."

The dinners have done more than strengthen the defensive line on the field. They've elevated Sweat's purpose in the locker room and changed the meaning of the infamous "Tez Effect." The phrase coach Matt Eberflus coined last season to summarize Sweat's impact on the defense has evolved past his on-field production. He's now an all-around leader.

The weekly hangouts feel like a responsibility to Sweat now, and not in the way that is forced or required. It's the kind of duty that elicits pride, fuels a sense of belonging and fulfills a newly heightened desire to see his peers succeed.

But a mere 12 months ago, playing host to a handful of teammates each week wasn't a pastime the Pro Bowler envisioned for himself — regardless of leeway or tools. When Sweat hopped on a plane from Washington to Chicago 358 days ago — after he was acquired by the Bears for a second-round pick — this version of him didn't exist.

Saturday afternoon, Sweat will board the Bears' charter flight to Washington for their Week 8 matchup versus the Commanders and return to where he started his NFL career. It's a place full of vivid and fond memories, where he formed connections that will withstand a lifetime.

Unlike the last time he flew between the cities, Sweat will feel a sense of peace and comfort on that two-hour plane ride. He knows he's exactly where he should be.

"It was one of those things where you just trust the process," Sweat said. "It's almost biblical, where you gotta trust in God and keep the faith on where things may not be looking as good at the moment. But later on, it might have been what was best for you and what was good for you. The transition — a lot of good things start happening.

"I've accomplished accolades in my career that I never accomplished, from the double-digit sack season and the Pro Bowl and a new contract. Chicago brought that to fruition for me. It was something that I couldn't really see at the moment, but it eventually came."

To understand Sweat's value to the Bears locker room, it's imperative to know what his addition meant to last year's defense.

Eberflus' first mention of the Tez Effect came in a press conference following their Nov. 9 win over the Panthers – just 15 days after Sweat joined the team. Sweat had three quarterback hits and three other defenders recorded sacks in the victory.

The tagline came to Eberflus off the cuff that day, but a year later, he can confidently double down on what he said.

"It's true. The Tez Effect is real," Eberflus told ChicagoBears.com.

Sweat's new teammates felt it, too. Ask around the Bears locker room and there's no shortage of Tez Effect moments — ones where players realized he's incomparable.

For some players, those moments happened even before they shared a locker room with the Pro Bowler or knew what the Tez Effect meant.

Take Gervon Dexter Sr.'s story. His moment had been building since 2020, when he was a freshman at Florida. His head coach, Dan Mullen, and other staff members had previously worked at Mississippi State during Sweat's time with the Bulldogs. Dexter would often see highlights of Sweat, and his admiration for the pass rusher's talent led to him wearing No. 9 during his college career — just like Sweat did.

Three years later, the pair met for the first time in Pensacola, Fla. Dexter was training for the NFL Combine while Sweat was doing offseason work following his fourth NFL campaign.

"The whole week, the trainer there was like, 'you wanna see an NFL D-lineman? How an NFL D-lineman is supposed to look? This is the prototype defensive end,'" Dexter recalled. "Tez walked in, and he looked like he's from Space Jam or something. That was one of my first Tez Effect moments off the field."

On the field, Dexter reaped the fruits of Sweat's labor within weeks of them sharing a field. The then-rookie's first NFL sack came in Week 14 against Detroit when he and Sweat shared a sack on quarterback Jared Goff. In the following three weeks, Dexter racked up an additional 2.0 sacks.

Left tackle Braxton Jones has a completely different experience. The third-year pro's first Tez Effect moment came at his own expense. It was back in Jones' rookie season in Chicago when the Bears played Sweat and the Commanders Oct. 13, 2022 at Soldier Field.

"It was my first 'welcome to the NFL' game and I just realized how dominant Tez could be," Jones said. "I think he had a sack on me that game. His long arms — he has a great long arm, and he just changes the game. He'll be real quiet at first and then out of nowhere, there comes Tez."

Now as teammates, the moments between the two are different. Whether it was in practice toward the end of last season or in training camp this summer, Jones and Sweat would occasionally match up. While the reps present a challenge for Jones, they strengthen his and the rest of the Bears offensive line's games.

"He's a force to be reckoned with," Jones added. "Whoever gets that rep against him, it's a gold rep. It's a rep to get better. He's a great player, so he's going to give you a great look. Whoever is up against him gets to get better that play."

Linebacker T.J. Edwards had his realization the more common way — by watching Sweat do what he does best: attack the quarterback. Edwards smiled while recalling Sweat's first sack as a Bear last Nov. 19 in Detroit, still in awe of the pass rusher's talent.

"Detroit was his first sack and I think just seeing how big and athletic he was," Edwards said, "When he made that play, I was like, 'yeah, we'll be alright. We can work with that.'"

The Tez Effect means something a little different to each person on the Bears roster, but the connotation is all the same. Sweat is a multiplier, a difference maker, a game wrecker. His impact isn't just a feeling in the locker room, it's a tangible statistic.

Since Sweat's first game as a Bear Nov. 5, 2023 through Week 7 of this season, the Bears defense has allowed the second fewest points per game (17.5) in the NFL. Throughout the same time frame, the Bears also lead the league with 32 takeaways.

Not only did Sweat make his first Pro Bowl and record a career-high 12.5 sacks in 2023 — he's added 2.5 more so far this year — Eberflus saw the rest of the defensive line increase their pressure rate and sack count. However, he believes the Tez Effect was felt most by the secondary, which no longer had to cover as long and capitalized on the pressure felt by opposing quarterbacks with takeaways.

It's clear that players and coaches can describe Sweat's impact, but can they quantify his value?

"You really can't," Eberflus said, "because whenever you get an elite pass rusher like that, the effect they have on the offense — being able to move the protection that way — they have to do certain things because he's such a talent and such a high energy player that the effect of that, you can't measure."

Step into Halas Hall during lunch hour and it won't take long to hear Sweat's deep, hearty laugh echoing from the locker room.

Observe a Bears practice and it won't take long to see Sweat with his helmet tilted up, cracking jokes with the rest of the defense.

"He's a funny guy," Eberflus said. "He called me a funny guy at one point, but he's got a great sense of humor. He brings joy into the building — always has a smile on his face and always positive."

That's the general consensus from the entire team — from coaches to teammates — on Sweat's personality. But it's not a side that he was willing to show right when he stepped into Halas Hall for the first time last year.

"When I first got here, everything was just a little new," Sweat said. "I was the new kid on the block, and I was kind of in a box. Kinda just protective on trying to, not necessarily not being myself, but just scared to show people who I was as a person."

While Sweat's job on the field is to be fearless — to use all of his 6-foot-6 and 262 pounds to wreak havoc on opposing offenses — the fear he had of opening up after being traded was real.

"It's like when the new kid transferred from a different school, you know what I'm saying?," Sweat said. "He doesn't really have any friends. So, of course, he's quiet at first until he feels the room out, feels the environment out, and he grows from there."

Internally, Sweat dealt with that struggle. Externally, his teammates immediately respected and loved him.

"I think as soon as he got here, for us in that room, we were able to see a Pro Bowler, a star," Dexter said. "Just him being there, he probably didn't notice, but we all looked to him. The room shifted and just followed him."

At first, Sweat didn't know the gravitational pull he possessed. He admittedly focused a little more on himself. Of course, he wanted to see his new group play well, but he didn't know what his role was outside of helping them on the field.

Through time, Sweat opened up with his teammates. He found people around Halas Hall he felt comfortable talking to. He met up with teammates in the offseason.

The switch has been apparent.

"Now he's comfortable telling us things. For example, 'alright we gotta get a stop right here,'" Dexter said. "He's communicating, so now he's not only a lead by example type of leader, but he's vocal as well. We've definitely seen it switch as he's gotten comfortable being here for a full offseason and a full year."

Now, Sweat understands who he is to the Bears. He knows his teammates personal situations, what they're going through and how they feel on the field.

He feels like he can be a shoulder to lean on this year, and it's a title he wants.

Sweat's evolution has felt natural to him. Early in his career, he looked up to veteran players who showed him the way in Washington. Now, as a veteran himself, he never wants to be the guy who isn't willing to help out.

Looking back, Sweat views the four-year contract extension he signed just four days after the trade as the catalyst for that mindset.

Nowhere in his contract did it outline that he needed to host team dinners, get in extra reps with young players or provide words of encouragement. But being a role model that teammates can look up to became a personal necessity for him.

It's just who Sweat is now.

"It feels great," Sweat said. "You always wanna push forward the love that you feel like you received. I felt like the Bears took a chance on me and invested in me, something that they didn't have to do. So I just want to show that love back to them and continue to do it as my career goes on here."