{"id":182699,"date":"2024-07-24T10:00:49","date_gmt":"2024-07-24T14:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=182699"},"modified":"2024-07-23T18:26:18","modified_gmt":"2024-07-23T22:26:18","slug":"bears-gervon-dexter-taking-massive-strides-heading-into-year-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/07\/24\/bears-gervon-dexter-taking-massive-strides-heading-into-year-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Bears&#8217; Gervon Dexter Taking &#8216;Massive Strides&#8217; Heading Into Year 2"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/bears\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Chicago Bears<\/a> have started training camp, with veterans and rookies ready to showcase their talents. One player has stunned Bears&#8217; media and coaches alike with his profound display of athleticism and physical transformation on the field. It&#8217;s clear Bears&#8217; defensive tackle Gervon Dexter Sr. has taken massive strides as he enters his second year for several reasons.<\/p>\n<h2>Bears&#8217; Gervon Dexter Sr. Taking &#8216;Massive Strides&#8217; Heading Into Year Two<\/h2>\n<h3>Coming Into Training Camp With a Goal in Mind<\/h3>\n<p>Dexter Sr. was a raw prospect coming out of the University of Florida. Standing tall at 6&#8217;6&#8243; and weighing 312 pounds, you don&#8217;t typically see a 21 now 22-year-old tall and young defensive tackle with perfect technique. However, last season, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/02\/02\/gervon-dexter-sr-rookie-review\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Dexter worked hard at learning the proper mechanisms<\/a> an elite DT should possess and took strides in that area. Coming into training camp, he&#8217;s shown a remarkable body transformation, appearing leaner and quicker on the field. But Dexter Sr. aims for more than just looking the part. With Justin Jones&#8217; departure, he <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/06\/15\/why-chicago-bears-players-deserve-more-playing-time\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">plans to take on a more prominent role.<\/a> <em>&#8220;I want to have my name on those walls when you walk in (Halas Hall).&#8221;\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Gervon Dexter put in the work to become leaner and more explosive this offseason. He did so driven with a goal in mind for his career: \u201cI want to have my name on those walls when you walk in (Halas Hall).\u201d <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/N9X1J9v2LB\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/N9X1J9v2LB<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Chris Emma (@CEmma670) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CEmma670\/status\/1815804074060587404?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 23, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>Breaking Standards<\/h3>\n<p>It may come as a surprise to learn that Dexter Sr. did his conditioning test with the defensive ends rather than the defensive tackles. To put it in perspective, Dexter, at 312 pounds, passed a conditioning test designed for players around 250 pounds. Teammate Montez Sweat praised Dexter&#8217;s decision to test with the DEs, saying, <em>&#8220;He definitely made a transformation with his body, but I always expected big things from Gervon. He&#8217;s just waiting to blow, honestly.&#8221;\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s inspiring to see such a young player taking advantage of his opportunity to make a name for himself, which is exactly what Dexter plans to do next season. Being in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2024\/07\/23\/chicago-bears-gervon-dexter\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8216;marathon shape&#8217;<\/a> will do wonders for Dexter as he heads into a crucial sophomore season. He also appreciates having someone like Sweat, who has achieved the success Dexter is aiming for. <em>&#8220;If I see him doing something, I&#8217;m going to do the same thing because he&#8217;s having the success that I want,&#8221;\u00a0<\/em>Dexter said.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Bears?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Bears<\/a> Gervon Dexter Sr talking about how he benefits from being around a proven vet like Montez Sweat. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf I see him doing something, I\u2019m going to do the same thing, because he\u2019s having the success that I want\u201d<\/p>\n<p>(Via Chicago Bears YT) <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/A9b5TKfbZv\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/A9b5TKfbZv<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; ImBearingDown (@ImBearingDown) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ImBearingDown\/status\/1815861029097632121?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 23, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>Bears Gervon Dexter Sr. Comments on His Decision to Undergo a Physical Transformation<\/h3>\n<p>It&#8217;s never easy to commit yourself to achieving a goal in mind, big or small. For Dexter, it&#8217;s a big opportunity to showcase his potential as the starting three-technique. <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/5653863\/2024\/07\/23\/bears-training-camp-gervon-dexter\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8220;Being leaner helps me get off the ball faster.<\/a> Being leaner helps me penetrate faster. So a lot of those things\u2014the three-technique role\u2014I can do a little easier because my body is allowing me to do it.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Heading into year two, it&#8217;s clear Dexter not only has huge aspirations but is backing it up with his actions. There are rumblings of a huge season ahead for the Bears, and especially for Dexter. His hard work and determination won&#8217;t go unnoticed, and soon, he&#8217;ll be able to showcase his efforts on the field against some of the best the NFL has to offer.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Predicted Statline for the 2024-25 Season: 38 Total Tackles, 6.5 Sacks, 2 Forced Fumbles<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Main Image: Mike Dinovo &#8211; USA Today Sports<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chicago Bears&#8217; second-year defensive tackle Gervon Dexter Sr. has come into training camp showing he&#8217;s a man on a mission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4976,"featured_media":182727,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23,54,36],"tags":[32186,7403,9958],"class_list":["post-182699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bears","category-editorials","category-nfl-news","tag-2024-nfl-offseason","tag-chicago-bears-news","tag-gervon-dexter-sr"],"modified_by":"Isaac Zuniga","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4976"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182699\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}