LAKE FOREST, Ill. – With the NFL Scouting Combine kicking off next week, we conducted a virtual roundtable discussion with Bears players Nate Vasher, Dusty Dvoracek, Chris Williams and Zackary Bowman about their experiences at the annual event in Indianapolis.

Vasher (fourth round in 2004), Dvoracek (third round in 2006), Williams (first round in 2008) and Bowman (fifth round in 2008) were all drafted by the Bears.

Bears first-round draft pick Chris Williams runs through a drill at last year's NFL Combine.

Williams: It is a meat market. It’s stressful as a player because you’ve got three days to get everything right. You’ve prepared for months and you’re going to be doing [drills] for probably five minutes the whole time you’re down there. You’ve always got somebody looking at you, and you don’t get any sleep. You’ve got a ton of meetings. It’s a really stressful couple of days. But after you get done, if you’re happy with what you’ve done, it’s a huge sigh of relief. I was excited about it because it’s a chance to prove yourself. It’s a national showcase with TV, scouts, GMs and coaches. It was fun in that respect, but at the same time it was stressful.

Vasher: It gives you an opportunity to be face-to-face with a lot of coaches and general managers. It’s definitely a business-type atmosphere. It gives you a chance to showcase your skills, whether it’s running or jumping, and how well you do on the chalkboard. A lot of defensive coordinators drew up plays for me and asked how I would defend the play or how we defended it in college. They want to see how fast you can pick up schemes because when you get to the NFL, things go at a faster pace.

Dvoracek: It’s pretty stressful for a lot of guys. It’s tough. They get you up at 5 o’clock in the morning to take a drug test. You don’t get to go back to sleep, and that’s the day you go do your 40, your shuttle and your broad jump. By the time you do your tests, it’s 9 o’clock and you haven’t eaten anything. It’s definitely not an ideal situation for you to perform at your best, and I think that’s how they set it up—to see how guys perform under pressure and see how guys are going to react [to adversity]. The Combine was a cool experience and I’m glad I did it. But it’s a tough environment. I was definitely glad when I was done to get on that plane and go home.

Bowman: It was a learning experience for me. You’ve got all these people telling you what it’s like and what to expect, but you really don’t know what it’s like until you actually get there. I was nervous. I always had to keep my guard up. Some of the other players were acting silly, and guys from teams were noticing stuff like that. I just kept to myself. I had fun down there. But it’s a business trip. I knew what I had to do when I got down there.

How well do you think you performed at the Combine?

Williams: Interview-wise, I think did really well. On the field I did well. I didn’t bench as well as I would have liked. But you can’t get everything right I guess.

Dvoracek: I think I did pretty well on most of the things. I was stressed out about the whole deal, but when it came down to get the job done, I did pretty well and I felt that it helped me.

Bowman: I felt like I did the best I could do. I didn’t drop any passes. I ran good. I benched good. I did everything everybody asked me to do. My biggest thing was injuries. A lot of people held that against me. But I did the best that I could do, so I was happy.

Bears fifth-round pick Zackary Bowman catches a pass at the NFL Combine.

Dvoracek: I think that everybody in the group roots everybody else on. I don’t think anybody’s out there hoping that somebody pulls a hamstring or runs a bad time. I guess you’re competing against everybody. But you’re really just competing against yourself and trying to do your best. You can’t control what other people do. Broderick Bunkley trained with me and I know we were cheering each other on the whole time. Mark Anderson was in my group too. It seemed like everybody got to be buddies. The best part of it for me was getting to know the guys. It was neat to get to talk to them and develop relationships.

What was the most unusual thing that happened while you were being interviewed by a team?

Vasher: I remember going into an interview with Cleveland, and it was more or less an interrogation room. They had this big spotlight on you and you sat there and they grilled you like a good cop/bad cop-type of thing. It was really awkward. I guess they want to see how you do under pressure and if you lie.

Williams: The weirdest thing was with the Colts. I didn’t even meet with their staff. I met with their psychiatrist. You walk into their room and there’s one lady sitting there. She had given me a personality test at the Senior Bowl, and we went over my results.

Dvoracek: The Broncos guy tried to get me to break. I think he was trying to see if I had any anger issues or if I had a short fuse. Looking back, it’s kind of comical. I don’t want to get into what he said, but it was my first Combine interview and I was scared because the guy tried to break me down as a man. I thought, “Oh my God, if this is what all of these are going to be like, this is going to be terrible.” But after that, every other interview was great.

What advice would you give the prospects attending this year’s Combine?

Bowman: Just be calm, and be confident in yourself. It’s not hard stuff. It’s things you went through in college like catching the ball and talking to the media. Just be positive. Don’t go in there with a negative mindset.

Dvoracek: Believe in yourself and compete. Even though you want everyone else to do well, compete with those guys and try to enjoy it as much as possible. And run fast because that seems to matter.

Williams: Just relax and try to enjoy yourself as much as you can. It’s going to be stressful, but do the best you can. Focus for those couple days. Try to relax and just get it done.