The butt-kicking was scheduled for April 8 at 11 a.m. Eastern time.

Bears offensive line coach Chris Morgan met with Tennessee right tackle Darnell Wright on his home turf — the Volunteers’ practice facility — and began putting him through positional drills.

“He kicked my ass, if we’re being honest … ” Wright said Thursday night from his draft party at the Knoxville, Tenn., Hyatt Place, minutes after the Bears drafted him 10th.

Pre-draft workouts are different than practices. There aren’t teammates standing in line behind you, waiting to jump into drills while you catch your breath.

“You definitely see what you’re made of a little bit in that little session,” he said.

Especially when Morgan running it.

“You’re 15 minutes in and you’re going back-to-back to-back,” Wright said. “But then you’re still going back-to-back-to-back and another 10 minutes pass. Another maybe 10 minutes pass.

“He just wanted to see if I’d quit, and I wouldn’t quit.”

Morgan, whom the Bears front office considers one of the best offensive teachers in the sport, liked what he saw. The feeling was mutual.

“It’s rare that you get to go somewhere where you really get to get coached by someone you really like and you feel like can take your game to the next level,” Wright said. “That’s what I feel like C-Mo can do for me. He already told me it’s gonna be hard, but I’ve never shied away from hard. I just want to get the best out of myself, and I think Coach C-Mo is gonna be perfect for me. It’s just going to be perfect.”

Morgan told Wright on the phone Thursday night how hard it was not to tell him sooner that he was the Bears’ preferred tackle. It was a surprise to the outside world, though; among the four top choices entering the draft, Wright ranked either third or fourth among prognosticators, behind Ohio State’s Paris Johnson and Northwestern’s Peter Skoronski. Johnson was drafted sixth by the Cardinals.

The Bears believe Wright will help protect quarterback Justin Fields, who last year was pressured on 14.75 percent of his dropbacks, the highest mark in modern NFL history for someone throwing at least 300 passes.

“That’s what I’m here for, is, for anything [Fields] needs,” Wright said. “That’s my job — to keep him clean.”

His 6-foot-5, 333-pound frame and nasty style makes him a prototypical right tackle in the NFL. The Huntington, W. Va, native was the second-ranked offensive tackle recruit in America and committed to Tennessee in 2019. He was a four-year starter, playing 27 games at right tackle, 17 at left tackle and two at right guard. He played 13 games on the left side in 2021 but moved back to the right last year, where he was named an all-SEC player. He’s a dominant run blocker — on 388 runs last year, he had zero blown blocks. 

The Bears, who brought Wright to Halas Hall for a meeting, were impressed that he improved each year.

On the left side in 2021, he gave up three sacks, 13 hurries and one hit in 495 passing snaps. In 507 passing snaps at right tackle last season, Wright allowed no sacks, six hurries and two hits. 

Wright’s fans around the league pointed to the fact that Alabama edge rusher Will Anderson — who was the first defensive player drafted Thursday, at No. 3 overall — said that Wright was the toughest blocker he faced in 2022. Anderson managed only one pressure against Wright.

“It was fun, and I just know what I can do,” Wright said. “You see it in the Alabama tape, but you see it in all the other tape as well.”

Including at the Senior Bowl, where he was the American team’s offensive line practice player of the week. His head coach there was another Bears assistant: Luke Getsy, his new offensive coordinator.

“It was like a full-circle moment,” Wright said.