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Chicago Bears 🐻⬇️

Bears RT Darnell Wright impresses with athleticism, strength

Darnell Wright Quick Hits 11.6.25 16x9 - 1W

It's not every day that the Bears record an epic comeback win with a sensational long touchdown in the final seconds like they did last Sunday in Cincinnati.

It's seemingly just as rare to see a 6-5, 325-pound man in full football pads do a cartwheel. But that's exactly what happened at the end of tight end Colston Loveland's game-winning 58-yard touchdown reception from Caleb Williams.

“I call him the unicorn for a reason. He does some things that are pretty extraordinary.” Ben Johnson on Darnell Wright

Trailing the play, right tackle Darnell Wright celebrated the TD by doing a cartwheel as he ran downfield. It was not captured by the television broadcast but is visible on the wide-angle all-22 view.

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had to express his excitement somehow 😭 #darnellwright #chicagobears #nfl @Chicago Bears

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"I thought that was pretty awesome," said coach Ben Johnson. "I call him the unicorn for a reason. He does some things that are pretty extraordinary. We have to continue to highlight what he can do with or without the ball. He's playing really good football right now."

Proof of that was evident throughout Sunday's victory. On one play that went viral, Wright drive-blocks Bengals defensive end Shemar Stewart halfway to Toledo and then plants him in the ground, allowing running back Kyle Monangai to pick up a first down on fourth-and-1.

On the "Fitz and Whit" Podcast he co-hosts, former NFL tackle Andrew Whitworth said of Wright's block: "It will be top five on his highlight reel the rest of his career and he's a young right tackle. He'll play for a really long time. But I love it when big boys have a chance to do something like that [and] get praised for it."

Pro Football Focus named Wright its offensive player of the week, noting that the 2023 first-round pick from Tennessee allowed just one hurry on 47 pass-blocking snaps, earning a 79.9 grade, and he led all NFL players with a 95.5 run-blocking grade.

"The biggest thing to me is he's been a very consistent player since the season started," Johnson said. "You knew what the talent was going to be. I saw it out of Tennessee. I loved the player coming out of Tennessee myself. You just wondered, 'Hey, is he going to be able to put it all together?'

"I feel like coach [Dan] Roushar and [assistant line coach] Kyle DeVan and those guys have done a really good job helping him out. Jonah Jackson being next to him, Joe Thuney being in that room, I think that has gone a long way for him.

"He comes to work every single day, he knows when to crack a joke and smile, and yet he can snap it back in and be serious in a hurry too, which I think is the balance we want all of our guys to have. I'm just really proud of how consistent he's been from the start of the season up to this point."

Changing the narrative

With the NFL regular season at its hallway point, Johnson was asked what he's learned about the Bears.

"The No. 1 thing is just how resilient we've been throughout these games," he said. "I brought it up to them when we first came in, this particular team, in years past, would find ways to lose games and now we're finding ways to win games. So they're looking to change that narrative. Now that we've done that, we've got to continue to develop that killer instinct. We're going to continue to get better there."

Johnson believes in his players in part because of their strong character.

"It's a really good group," he said. "I can't say enough good things about our locker room. We really have zero issues with discipline or anything of that nature. These guys just want to come out and play ball and win games and be there for their teammates. Usually you've got some bad apples in there, but we really don't.

"We have just a really strong locker room. As they continue to grow, the camaraderie seems to strengthen. Hopefully we'll see dividends from that here in the next couple of months."

Helping hand

Williams has greatly benefitted from being tutored by Johnson. The second-year quarterback enters Week 10 having thrown for 1,916 yards with 12 touchdowns, four interceptions and a 93.5 passer rating. He has also rushed for 183 yards and two TDs on 40 carries and caught two passes for 22 yards and one TD.

Asked what energizes him most about working with Johnson, Williams said: "Being able to come in here and know that I have somebody that has my back … And then also you can feel his energy, you can feel his love for the game, us as players, and his want to win. Those are a lot of similarities in my daily life and my game. Having someone like that in your corner, it builds energy every single day to come in here and find ways to get better and try to lead these guys to victory."

Amazing opportunity

After being acquired by the Bears Tuesday in a trade with the Browns, defensive end Joe Tryon-Shoyinka practiced with his new teammates Wednesday and is expected to play in Sunday's home game against the Giants.

"It's an amazing opportunity," Tryon-Shoyinka said. "Amazing defense with some of these dudes. I'm trying to just find my identity with this team and fit in where I can."

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