Bears rookie diaries with Ruben Hyppolite II, Kyle Monangai | Week 5
As told to Gabby Hajduk

For the final time, Bears fourth-round pick Ruben Hyppolite II — a linebacker from Maryland — and seventh-round pick Kyle Monangai — a running back from Rutgers — share their training camp experiences exclusively on ChicagoBears.com.

I came into my first NFL training camp with three goals.

Make the 53-man roster. Start on special teams. Earn a role on defense.

I feel like I achieved everything I set out to do over the past six weeks. And I learned that the NFL is where I belong.

Obviously coming in, I already had confidence in myself and believed I had a place here, but with the work I put in, there's no more imposter syndrome. I'm here for a reason. That really became apparent in our final preseason game.

Just being on the field with someone like Pat Mahomes, just out there playing, reading and reacting and finding ways to be impactful on special teams or on defense, that's something that I'm proud of. I just learned a lot about myself throughout camp and at the end of day, it's just football. It doesn't matter who is across from you. If you put your best foot forward, you'll be alright.

Officially making the 53-man roster last week was special. It's obviously a tough day in general, knowing there are guys that won't be back, guys you've become friends with, so I'm just grateful to be in the situation.

I didn't feel worried about making the team that day, not because I'm a draft pick, but because of the work I put in since getting here in May. It felt great to have that validation, still, and hear from my support system.

I came out of practice that day to a bunch of messages from friends and family, guys I played with in high school and college, so that was a great feeling. We still had meetings later that afternoon, so I didn't really have a moment to soak it all in, but after our day was over, I took a drive to the city and did some shopping.

I've said it before, but those drives are so important for me. I was able to just spend some time by myself and really reflect on this whole process. It doesn't feel like I've been in Chicago long, but we've been doing this since May. And the entire time, it's felt like an internship, like I didn't have the job yet.

And now, I finally got the job for real. So I just felt really blessed to have that moment to myself and take it all in.

I took drives down to the city on most of our off days. It was one of the main things that kept me grounded throughout camp. Just getting away from here for a little bit, seeing new things in Chicago. I really enjoyed those moments. Being consistent with my faith was another big piece for me, whether it was praying or reading devotionals.

When I think about camp as a whole, I think some of my favorite off-field moments were seeing guys I played with in college and high school or trained with over the years. Seeing them in that light, in an NFL uniform, was surreal because this is the type of stuff we always talked about.

I actually spent some time with a few of my former Maryland teammates over the long weekend. We went back to College Park for Week 1 of the college football season and it was great to see everybody and be there for the win.

Now, I'm back in Chicago and getting ready for Week 1 of our season. Obviously playing our season opener on Monday night is a huge deal. It's primetime and there's gonna be a lot of people watching. But I try not to make things bigger than what they are. At the end of day, it's a football game and it's more about, 'how are you gonna prepare and perform?' rather than it being Monday Night Football.

I'm obviously still very grateful for the moment and can't wait to get the first game under my belt. It'll be good to get those initial jitters, if you will, out, release all of the excitement that's been building and then carry the momentum for at least 18 weeks. I'm really just looking forward to putting that uniform back on, executing and being a factor on the field.

Can't wait to see everyone out there at Soldier Field Monday.

My first NFL training camp is in the books. And for me, it reinforced that I can do everything that I said I could do.

Really, my only goal for camp was to be one of the hardest workers on the team. My injury made it tough to fully prove that on the field the past couple weeks, but prior to it, I feel like I was on my way to having that reputation.

I've also been able to show that even when I'm not on the field, that work ethic will still come through. I've been going hard in rehab. I'm still competing in the meeting room, asking and answering questions, taking mental reps on the sideline. I'm still fully locked in, so in those ways, I feel like I've accomplished my goal.

I remember back in my last year of college and even throughout the draft process, some of my friends and I would talk about camp like, 'what's it going to be like? Are we mentally and physically prepared for this?' Being able to get through a training camp and feel like I got better and competed at a high level just solidified that I was ready for this.

Before heading into camp, I was really focused on making sure I put myself in the best position to physically and mentally perform this season. I knew I needed to nail down a daily routine, get in the building early and stay late, focus on my recovery and do extra work to stay in the playbook. That helped me stay locked in through the long days and weeks of camp. Now, it's about altering that routine to fit the regular season schedule.

Having a coach like EB (running backs coach Eric Bieniemy) also made it so you have no choice but to be locked in every day. He's made me a better player and has positioned me to see the game differently. He always says, 'you don't coach effort,' so it's expected and required of you every play. So mindset wise, it's been great learning from him.

Being coached by Ben has been just as great. He definitely let's EB do his thing with the running backs, but he'll also chop it up with us before practice and if he sees something he wants to correct in the moment, he'll always come up to you. He really sets the ship and how it sails, and everyone feeds off his energy — both the energy he demands and the energy he sustains.

It's crazy to think August is already over and we're about to head into the season. Having cutdown day last week made it all feel a little more real. That day was honestly depressing. You make relationships with people, some who become your friend and not just your teammate, and then you have to see them walk out the door not knowing what's next. That was rough and I just wish all the guys the best.

It definitely means a lot to still be here. It means I've proven to the staff that I can help the team with this year and it really just reinforces that I've been doing the right things. But, you also have to keep proving that every day and now it's time to go do it on a different level.

This is just Phase 1. Now, the work accelerates and it gets harder, so I've just got to keep going.

I did have a nice moment with my family after making the 53-man roster. My mom had kind of left me alone earlier in the day because she knew the timing of everything, so after practice, I checked my phone and she sent me a bunch of exclamation marks.

I gave her a call and she had my dad and my sister there too. They just told me they were proud of me and then my brother texted me, so that was a cool moment. I appreciated everyone for reaching out, but once the moment passed, I was really just focused on getting ready for the next day.

Thinking about camp as a whole, I think my favorite part was our first preseason game. It was my first NFL game, first time putting the jersey on and first time experiencing a game environment at this level. Now, having not played in the final two preseason games, I appreciate having that one under my belt even more.

I just can't wait to get back on the field and in that environment again. I'm looking forward to playing against the best this season. That's the biggest thing — playing against the best players in the world. And competing with them.

Camp has been fun, but now it's time to really get going. I appreciate everyone for keeping up and hope to see everyone out there this season.

To close out this year's edition of Rookie Diaries, ChicagoBears.com asked fans to submit questions they wanted to rookies to answer. Check out their responses below: