BOURBONNAIS — Khalil Mack last slept in a small apartment only a few weeks ago, when he visited his brother Ledarius’ place just off the Buffalo campus.
The last time the Bears outside linebacker had slept in a dorm, though, was when he was a student at the same school.
Until, that is, he checked into his Olivet Nazarene University digs on Thursday.
“It reminded me of UB, man,” Mack said after taking his physical the day before the Bears’ first practice. “It’s a wooden bed … I might have to get another layer of cushion on there.”
Welcome to training camp.
Mack skipped the Raiders’ last year, embroiled in a contract dispute that was ultimately resolved when the Bears traded for him and made him the highest-paid defender in NFL history. Before then, he, along with the rest of the Raiders, stayed at the Napa Valley Marriott adjacent to the team’s training camp practice fields.
ONU is not the Napa Valley Marriott.
“Everybody told me, ‘Yeah, you’re gonna love it,’” Mack said. “I don’t know if it’s sarcastic or no. But I’m looking forward to it.”
The Bears are one of 10 NFL teams that still go away to camp. In 2013, they agreed to a series of nine one-year deals to keep them on campus through 2022.
It can be drudgery. But there’s no reason to doubt Mack’s sincerity when he says he’s ready to work. The same player spent this year’s Super Bowl lifting weights at his home, motivated to improve on the Bears’ first-round playoff exit.
The defeat only strengthened his resolve.
“Ultimately, we’re hungrier than we were last year,” he said. “I’m speaking for myself as well. I’m way hungrier than I was last year. It definitely wasn’t good enough.”
To repeat: Mack — who in 2015 became the first player ever named first-team All-Pro at two positions; in 2016 was named Defensive Player of the Year; and last year posted the most sacks of any Bears player not named Richard Dent — is more jacked up than ever.
“He’s just one of those players that fits perfectly into our culture,” quarterback Mitch Trubisky said. “He makes people around him better. He makes the defense better because he raises everybody’s level of focus and intensity, competitiveness, and he also makes our tackles and our o-linemen better just competing with them in practice.
“We’re just going to have to take care of each other in practice. But I truly believe that competition brings out the best in everybody, and iron sharpens iron. And he’s one of those guys that’s going to push our offense and make sure everybody’s getting better.”
Even though Mack joined the team eight days before their season opener last year, the Bears were impressed by how quickly Mack impacted his teammates, on and off the field.
That influence should be greater in camp.
“Being able to see him and how he goes about each and every thing, each and every day, it inspires you as a player to want to continue to get better,” receiver Allen Robinson said. “And to kind of want to get around that presence around us as well.”
Last year at this time, Mack watched every team in the league begin its offseason. He worked out alone, waiting for his contract stalemate to end.
“Ultimately, I knew whatever happened, I was going to hit the ground running,” he said. “I’m glad the Bears gave me that opportunity. I’m still trying to make the most of it.”
Even if it means finding a new mattress pad.
“Ultimately, it starts with the offseason, starts with training camp, starts with the camaraderie — the focus, the determination, the will to win,” he said. “That’s some of the things you learn throughout this process. Ultimately, man, one game at a time, one week at a time. It’s going to be a long season, but we want to make the most of it.”
