June 17--At first, Martellus Bennett was hesitant to stand in front of the media Tuesday afternoon. The Chicago Bears tight end knew he'd be facing a barrage of questions after skipping the team's three weeks of organized team activities plus the offseason strength and conditioning program at Halas Hall. Yet after pushing through a rusty and at times sloppy effort during Tuesday's minicamp practice at Halas Hall, Bennett opted to open up. Some.
During a 5-minute question-and-answer session that ranged from terse to lively, Bennett shared his viewpoints as only he can. Here are the highlights from Tuesday's interview.
On returning to practice with the Bears after so much time away ...
"It's cool to be out there. It's the same thing I always do (in the offseason) -- just work out and enjoy my family. Same thing I do every year."
On the decision to stay away from the strength and conditioning program and the OTAs ...
"I just did my own conditioning program."
On his satisfaction with his current contract, the four-year, $20.4 million deal he signed in 2013 ...
"I'm always working on a new contract. That's everything. It's all sides of business."
On whether he has had good contact with the Bears' new front office and coaching staff to this point ...
"I mean, I've talked to them here and there. So. Pretty much, I guess so. It just depends on what you consider good contact and not good contact. I'll let my agent do his job and I'll just do my job."
On how he studied the Bears' new offense while he was away ...
"I didn't look at it. Today's my first day looking at the offense. So it's just like any course you ever take in school."
On whether he requested a trade at any point ...
"I don't know. With my agent, that's between them and upstairs."
On whether he feels behind in catching up with the new offense ...
"Not really. We're only out here for three days and then it's training camp and we start all over again. So not really. A lot of (other) guys they know a lot of the stuff we're doing. But I'm pretty intelligent. So I pick up on things pretty quick."
On whether it's becoming tougher to fit in with the new offense or the new coaches ...
"It's just like going to a new school. I fit in everywhere I go. I'm like a dark-skinned chameleon."
On when he decided to participate in this week's minicamp ...
"I don't know. The other day."
On whether he expects to be at training camp when reporting day arrives in late July ...
"Yeah."
On whether there's a possibility he won't be at training camp when reporting day arrives in late July ...
"There's always a possibility. I take it one day at a time."
On his desire for a new contract halfway through his current four-year deal ...
"I think everybody, even you guys, should be lobbying for new contracts. If your performance is at a high level and you're performing to a high level, then you want to be compensated for the level that you're playing at. I think the idea of, for most people, the idea for not being in a contract for as long as they think you should because of what's socially acceptable to the community of football, I think that's when people get into it. Like, 'Oh, he's got two years left.' But most people don't even honor their damn phone contracts. They'll switch from Sprint to T-Mobile one year into it. So I mean it's just like being at an apartment and getting out of your lease because you want to find a better apartment or something better. So it's all phases of life, where you're trying to do something better. Say you find a better place to live and you want to go into that home. You don't want to stay in that same home when you can work to get that new home. So it's no different for me than it is for anybody else. I think every American, every person in the whole world should be trying to get a new contract and if they're not, I think they're silly. So for me, right now, I just continue to work. You outperform whatever it is you need to do and you just come back and you ball out on them."
On what he feels he's improved upon this offseason ...
"Me? I look better, don't I? ... I mean, I don't know how I look honestly. I see myself all the time. So it's weird. You know how you have your dog? I see him all the time so he's not that big to me. But when I see him next to another human being, he looks huge. So I really don't know. Really, I just worked out at Brandon Marshall's facility at FitSpeed. Great group of guys. Pretty much on the same program that he was on. So just life really. I've just been working on myself as a human being and as an athlete. So whatever you can possibly do to become better. So, getting out there running around and getting the football legs back. It's always different from working out. You can't really simulate football no matter how much conditioning you've been doing. It's getting out there and getting in and out of your stance, in and out of your breaks out here, hearing the calls and making the plays and just going out there and doing what we do. So, I mean, I've been playing football ... I'm 28. So I've been playing football for 27 years. So that's pretty much a lifetime. I think I've got my 10,000 hours in. If you haven't read 'Outliers,' that's a Malcolmm Gladwell phrase. I think I've got my 10,000 hours in. And the great thing about football, there are only so many concepts you can possibly run. Nobody's really doing that many things different in and around the league. There are just different ways of getting there. So once you crack that code, you're pretty good. It's no different than coding on a website or something."
