Former Bears defensive tackle Akiem Hicks let it fly — again — about the quarterbacks he got stuck with in Chicago.
In his first press conference since signing with the Buccaneers last month, Hicks basked in the joy of joining Tom Brady while pointing out that his former teammates were nowhere near that level.
“Something I’ve thought of often is that when I came into the league, I had Drew Brees and Tom Brady as my first two quarterbacks,” Hicks said Tuesday. “Then I went to Chicago. It wasn’t Drew Brees and Tom Brady. We’ll just say that, right?
“I feel spoiled [now] to have somebody on the other side of the ball that can deliver all the time, and he’s proven it over the years.”
Hicks was with the Bears from 2016 through ’21 before the team let him walk in free agency. During his six seasons, the Bears started nine quarterbacks. Mitch Trubisky, who has an 87.0 career passer rating, started 50 games in that span.
With that instability and incompetence at quarterback, it’s no surprise the Bears scored the fifth-fewest points in the NFL and had the 12th-worst record during Hicks’ tenure despite being the No. 5 defense in the league over that time.
Hicks enjoyed one winning season with the Bears, who went 6-11 last season and headed into a major rebuild under new general manager Ryan Poles.
Hicks said Tuesday returning was not a consideration, but did not elaborate on whether that was his choice, the team’s or a mutual. He was attracted to the Bucs because of “the chance to win” and play with a quarterback of Brady’s caliber.
“It was definitely a draw,” he said. “It benefits a defense to have a quarterback that can control the clock, the ball and the field position. And that’s what we have here.”
Hicks also fired a shot at the Bears’ quarterback moves two years ago when asked about the team shunning Colin Kaepernick. He replied by pointing out the ill-fated signing of Mike Glennon.
