LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen pulled his players together on the first training camp practice and demanded 40 up-downs.

No, it wasn’t a joke. It also wasn’t a surprise. Allen had alluded to it several times, and promised it wasn’t a punishment.

It was a rite of passage. If you want to play on this Bears defense, you have to ante up.

“It kind of took me back to high school,” safety Kevin Byard III said. “It’s special to me just because of the way ‘DA’ put it to us. You’ve got to pay the toll. It’s a buy-in. It’s almost like it’s an initiation, and it’s special.”

Everyone does it, no matter when you sign up. If a new member joins down the line, every defender circles around him for the initiation.

The players didn’t roll their eyes at the old-school exercise. They understood its purpose because it was explained clearly, several times before.

Allen doesn’t mince words. He doesn’t duck tough topics. He sets clear expectations and demands they be met yet doesn’t ask anything of his players he’s not willing to do himself.

“He practices what he preaches,” defensive tackle Gervon Dexter Sr. said. “He’s out there, he’s aggressive. He has the energy. That’s the way he coaches us up in the meeting room and outside. So, you pretty much have no choice but to match his energy.”

Energy is key to how Allen coaches defense. He believes that defensive coordination isn’t all about play calls and play designs. He considers that less important that the attitude, aggressiveness and physicality with which they play.

“It’s not about what we play, it’s about how we play,” Allen said. “It doesn’t matter what the call is. It’s about creating an aggressive mindset, then you have to be able to execute whatever that call is within that same mindset.”

That mindset has pervaded through the summer. This Bears defense is relentless, making opponents earn every single yard. That was evident in a joint practice versus Miami, a tone setter for what this Bears defense is all about. It has been clear even against their offensive teammates. The Bears fly to the ball. They attack. They play aggressive on the back end and aren’t afraid to bring pressure.

The scheme has its complexities, but its core principles are most important.

To quote Allen: “It’s a mentality. It’s a mindset. It’s a culture.”

This defense is also a reflection of its architect.

“It’s not really more about what he’s going to call,” Byard said. “It’s about how we execute, how we play those calls.  I think as a defense you want to be basically how Dennis Allen is: aggressive, physical.”

Allen doesn’t want to read and react. He wants the Bears to dictate terms and force mistakes.

That’s the goal of every play. His players love that philosophy, which is clear more through actions than all the nice words players are saying about their general.

Physicality. Effort. Attentiveness.

That’s what Bears defenders have given Allen throughout the summer. His group seems ready for primetime, ready for Monday night’s opener versus the Minnesota Vikings.

He was quick to remind that Week 1 doesn’t conclude the hard work. There’s a never-ending quest for development.

“The work’s never done, so regardless of outcomes, we’re going to continue to work to improve and we’re not going to focus too much on what the results are,” Allen said. “We’re going to focus on the process of getting better and I think if you take care of that, the results end up taking care of themselves.”

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