McManis back with Bears healthy, 'ready to roll'

[Staley Da Bear]

With NFL team facilities closed due to the coronavirus, it's impossible to predict when McManis and his teammates will return to Halas Hall. But dealing with a different world due to the pandemic has changed McManis' perspective on life.


"I've had plenty of time to reflect on who's in my corner and who I play this game for," McManis said. "I play the game for my family and God, and this opportunity presented itself and I took it. I'm grateful for another opportunity to play for a great city in Chicago."


Acquired in a 2012 trade with the Texans, McManis is the longest tenured player on the Bears roster. Since arriving in Chicago, he has appeared in 108 games, the most by any Bears player over the last decade from 2010-19.


McManis has recorded 124 tackles, one interception, six pass breakups, one sack and two tackles-for-loss. On special teams, he has registered 74 tackles, one blocked punt that was returned by Corey Wootton for a touchdown, one blocked field goal, one forced fumble and three fumble recoveries.


Last season the Northwestern product tied for the Bears' lead with eight special-teams tackles despite being limited to nine games.


McManis played sparingly on defense after being moved from cornerback to safety in 2019, but he generated one of the most impressive takeaways of the season when he punched the ball out of Raiders receiver Trevor Davis' hands inside the Bears' 1-yard line in a Week 5 loss to Oakland in London.


When players are permitted to return to Halas Hall, McManis will approach the 2020 season like every other one throughout his career—with something to prove.


"I'm glad to be back with my teammates and play for the great city of Chicago," he said. "My entire career I focused on taking it a day at a time and beginning every year as if the previous was non-existent, besides retaining information from previous years of course. This, in my opinion, is the key to my success."