Smith has been named second-team All-Pro each of the past two seasons. In 2020, he finished second in the NFL with 96 solo tackles and tied for second with 18 tackles-for-loss, the most by a Bears player since Hall of Fame middle linebacker Brian Urlacher had 19 in 2002. Last season, Smith recorded a career-high 163 tackles with 12 tackles-for-loss, 3.0 sacks and one interception that he returned 53 yards for a touchdown.
Smith was voted a captain a few weeks after ending a “hold-in” that stemmed from a contract impasse.
“I don’t even look at it that way,” Eberflus said. “I look at it as football. That’s the business side of it. Since him and I always talk, it’s always about football. And it’s going to continue to be that way, and he’s a man’s man and a heck of a football player, so we are excited for him to be a captain.
“On the grass, he’s been great. And he’s been great in the locker room and he’s been great with the coaches. It’s just the negotiations didn’t work out the way that he wanted to and that we wanted to. It didn’t go the way that we wanted, but in the same regard, he’s been ‘A1′ on the football side, the coaches’ side, teammate side, all that. So it’s been really good.”
Montgomery is just the fourth player in Bears history to produce at least 1,000 yards from scrimmage in each of his first three NFL seasons, joining Hall of Famer Gale Sayers, Matt Forte and Jordan Howard. Montgomery gained 1,074 yards in 2019 (889 rushing, 185 receiving) and 1,508 yards in 2020 (1,070 rushing, 438 receiving) and 1,150 last year (849 rushing and 301 receiving).
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