LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Defensive end Montez Sweat opened his news conference outside the Bears’ locker room inside Halas Hall with an apology.
“I got suspended,” Sweat said. “I just want to apologize to my teammates, the fanbase, everybody. But I’m moving forward now.”
Sweat was back at Bears practice on Tuesday after serving a two-game suspension for violating the NFL’s performance-enhancing substances policy. He was officially reinstated on Friday but Bears players had the weekend off following their 30-24 win against the New England Patriots on Thursday night. Sweat also missed the Bears’ 31-23 win against the Atlanta Falcons.
“It was devastating,” Sweat said. “I’m just happy to be back in the building with my teammates. I think that’s what I missed the most, just being in the locker room around my guys.”
Sweat said the first week of his suspension was spent fully apart from the team. He returned for the second week but was limited to meetings and workouts.
“I was just trying to stay ready,” he said.
Sweat didn’t provide any details about his suspension. He called it “accidental” and “a surprise.”
“It’s definitely something I got to live with in my career,” he said. “I never want to cheat the game, and I would never do it intentionally, but what happened happened and I’m moving forward.”
Sweat did absolve the Bears of any blame. The mistake was his own.
“I take the responsibility full upon myself,” he said. “It was nothing with the nutritional staff here or the training staff here. It was things I was doing on my own. Take that on the chin and move forward.”
That said, Sweat said that won’t be changing anything about his routine.
“I’ve been in the league going on Year 8 now,” Sweat said. “I haven’t wound up with a positive like that before, so I guess I’ll just get back to my regular routine now.”
The Bears defense got the better of the Falcons and Patriots without Sweat. The Bears held Falcons star running back Bijan Robinson to 61 rushing yards in Atlanta, while the return of nickel back Kyler Gordon sparked the pass rush. The Bears totaled seven sacks in those back-to-back wins, including four from Gordon.
“It’s great,” Sweat said. “As long as he gets on the field, he’s going to make plays, so it’s been amazing watching him pass rush.”
Special-teamer/pass rusher Daniel Hardy also stood out in Sweat’s absence, producing 1 ½ sacks and four QB hits.
“Big shout out to Daniel Hardy,” Sweat said. “He’s been carrying his weight and creating a lot of opportunities for himself. He’s done great. (Austin Booker), all the guys. They’ve been doing an awesome job.”
But now Sweat, who had two sacks and four QB hits in five games before suspension, is back. He’s supposed to be one of the Bears’ best players on defense.
Discussing his suspension with coach Ben Johnson was difficult.
“Nobody wants to go look someone in the eye after you’ve done something detrimental like that to the team,” Sweat said, “but those are things you have to do to move forward.”
It’s too early to say how much Sweat’s suspension factors into his place on the team in 2027. The Bears do have an exit point in his contract that makes sense.
But right now, there’s a game to win on the road against the Seattle Seahawks, the defending Super Bowl champions. The Bears need Sweat to produce starting Monday night.
“I take everything that comes with it,” Sweat said. “The only thing I can do now is just look forward and continue to play.”