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Bears tight end Colston Loveland can’t pinpoint the exact day, but he figures it was sometime in November. He had played enough NFL games to know what was expected of him — and understood his coaches’ warnings that the most important part of the season was just getting started.
“Everyone’s saying, ‘This is when real ball starts,’” he said Thursday. “That’s when you stop being a rookie. Around then is when I would say things got a little more comfortable.”
For running back Kyle Monangai, shedding the rookie label, at least in his own head, was a product of feeling more and more confident by the week.