LAKE FOREST, Ill. – During his introductory press conference Monday at Halas Hall, defensive end Gaines Adams said that he’s eager to begin working with his new teammates and position coach Rod Marinelli.

“It’s a new phase in my life and I’m just ready to start over and get things done,” said Adams, who was acquired by the Bears from the Buccaneers Friday in exchange for a 2010 second-round draft pick.

Defensive end Gaines Adams speaks to the Chicago media Monday at Halas Hall.

“Sometimes a change of scenery could be good for a player. Some fits may not be a perfect fit for a player, but hopefully this fit will be good. I’ve got the coach that can help me get to the point that I need to be and some great players that I can look up to and learn from.”

Asked what he learned watching the Bears from the sideline Sunday night in Atlanta, Adams said: “The d-line gets after it. Coach Marinelli has high expectations for the guys, and I’m just willing to come in and fit in where I need to and help this defensive line the best I can.”

Selected by the Buccaneers with the fourth overall pick in the 2007 draft, Adams appeared in 37 games with 29 starts in three seasons in Tampa, recording 124 tackles, 13½ sacks, 13 passes defensed, two interceptions, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.

Adams played in the same scheme the Bears run for the first two years of his career in Tampa before the Buccaneers switched to a different system this year under new coach Raheem Morris.

“He’s a very good player,” said general manager Jerry Angelo. “The two marquee positions in our scheme are the three-technique and the right end. If we can re-create history with him, I would go back to my days in Tampa when we brought in Simeon Rice. We had some success. Rod was there. That would be [the ideal situation] for us if something like that were to happen.

“We feel very strongly about our scheme, our coaches and the way we evaluate players. We did all our due diligence and we felt like we were going to make it happen. There are risks to a draft pick [and] there are risks to this. I’m just hoping he’s coming in here wanting to be a great player. If he is, I feel like we’ve got all the tools to facilitate him coming to fruition.”

Angelo knows that defensive end wasn’t necessarily a need with Adewale Ogunleye, Alex Brown and Mark Anderson manning the position. But the chance to add a player like Adams was too good to pass up.

“I’m sure I didn’t make any friends over this with the defensive line, but I like them all and I just feel that you can’t have enough of them,” Angelo said. “Unlike the offensive line, you play a lot of defensive linemen. We have a rotation. It’s a pretty good rotation. He just hopefully is another player that’s going to add to the mix. 

"It starts with the fronts, both of the offensive and defensive line, and I just felt like the value of what he does was too great not to take advantage of this opportunity.”