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'Belt with spikes' — Bears players are putting emotion behind every word as they prepare for the season opener against Minnesota

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Kole Noble | Last updated Jul 23, 2025 1:29 PM ET

Training camp for the Chicago Bears officially opens today, which to many is seen as the starting blocks toward the regular season.

In 47 days, the Bears will open its 2025 regular season at home on Monday Night Football against a division rival in the Minnesota Vikings, marking the first game of this new era under head coach Ben Johnson.

There's still a lot of time and practice opportunities before that date, but these days will fade faster than anyone might think.

"This is a race now," Johnson emphasized to reporters on Tuesday. "Everything is a race. We have to get our fundamentals down. We have to get our execution down. This is going to be a challenge, and certainly in the first year with new systems on both sides of the ball. But that’s the fun part of it too. That’s the challenge we want."

Starting today, the level of urgency and intensity gets dialed up to a new level. All eyes are on that Week 1 date against the Vikings, but everyone is still aware of the work that needs to be put in between now and then.

"Obviously you don’t look too far ahead," quarterback Caleb Williams said. "But you do understand that you’re on a time limit. And so the race is here."

As far as Week 1 goes, literally all eyes will be on the Chicago Bears and this new-look team to see what kind of message they intend to send out of the gate. And rookie second-round wide receiver Luther Burden sent the strongest message yet.

"Belts with spikes," Burden said on his latest YouTube vlog when asked how he feels about the first game.

A similar warning message was sent a few weeks prior by the man sitting next to Burden in the clip, first-round tight end Colston Loveland, when asked about facing his former college QB.

"We're not on the same team anymore. So all I know is, Monday Night, we're going to be prepared, we're going to be fired up, ready to go out there and... good luck."

That's just how two rookies feel about the first game of the regular season. Imagine how the other veterans on this team feel, who have been in Chicago and are used to being treated as the laughing stock of the NFC North over the last few years.

This Bears team is ready to flip the narrative and start the ascent out of the division basement and coming out with a bang to open the season against the Vikings can help set the tone for the entire season.

“I’m looking at the first game of the year. I’m fired up about it. Any time you can open up the season at your house, prime time. I can’t look past that. That’s a big game, you know what I mean?" linebacker Tremaine Edmunds said earlier in the offseason. "We’ve just got to take it a day at a time. I think that’s going to be good opening up in front of our fans. That type of atmosphere, it’s going to be special. Division game, that’s the kind of stuff you play for."

Week 1 can't come soon enough, and in the meantime, the team needs to continue setting the initial tone going into training camp.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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