The Chicago Bears are just days away from opening their 2025 regular season with new head coach Ben Johnson, and their prime-time Monday Night Football matchup against the Minnesota Vikings. This will be the second straight year that the Bears meet the Vikings on Monday Night Football, and the third time in four years.

With a new coaching staff and overhauled roster in place, the Bears will enter the 2025 season looking to quickly remove the memories of a disappointing season last year. Opening the season in the national spotlight on Monday Night Football will leave Chicago out in the open for both criticism and discussion, as they’ll have a chance to prove their offseason was a success with a victory in their opening game.

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Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds spoke to the media this week about playing in primetime, embracing the spotlight that the team has ahead of them.

“Anytime you can play prime time…that’s what you play this game for,” Edmunds said. “You want the whole world to see all the hard work you put into it individually and as a team. We’ve been working hard to be able to display our talents. What other way, would you want to have it? Opening up a season on Monday night in front of the whole world against a divisional opponent. This is what you work your tail off for, to be in these moments, to be in these games.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s Week 1 or whenever it is. This is our opportunity to go out there and really show the world what we’ve been doing, all the hard work that we’ve been putting into it. We know it’s not going to be easy, nothing worth having is easy. We’ve just got our head down; we’ve got to work. Still some time until that game gets here, it’s a lot of work to be put in.”

The prime-time slot gives the Bears an opportunity to show just how much they improved this offseason, or it could show how much more time they need to grow as a unit under their new head coach. It’ll be a new era for the Vikings, as well, following the departure of quarterback Sam Darnold in free agency as last year’s first round pick last year in J.J. McCarthy takes over the reins.

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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Bears LB Tremaine Edmunds embracing prime-time spotlight vs. Vikings