Inside the C and LT competitions: 3 things we heard from Chicago Bears offensive assistants

The Chicago Bears' offense will take center stage next season in Year 2 under Ben Johnson.

Before that, the Bears need to settle two offensive line position battles and make their quarterback a bit more efficient.

Here’s what we heard from the Bears’ offensive assistant coaches as they spoke at Halas Hall on Thursday.

Inside the center and left tackle competitions

The Bears have two ongoing position battles on the offensive line heading into Phase III of the offseason.

They’ll need to play someone at left tackle. Garrett Bradbury is the favorite to win the starting center job, but the Bears are leaving the door open ever so slightly.

Any would-be starting job winners at this point need to show consistency. This is true for all the spots on the line.

"You’re looking for guys to put good reps together back to back to back to back, every day," Roushar said. 

Roushar said the left tackle job will come down to the player who can show consistency in run blocking and in protecting the passer.

Jedrick Wills Jr., who signed a one-year deal in March, Braxton Jones, who re-signed on a one-year deal in March, and Theo Benedet will all compete for the starting left tackle job.

The winner is to be determined. The Bears know it’ll be one of those three.

"It’s nameless and faceless right now," he said. "We know what we’re working with, but we have a clear vision of what real good tackle play looks like and that’s what we’re striving for."

When asked what rookie center Logan Jones needs to show to start Week 1, Bears offensive line coach Dan Roushar said he needs to piece together good plays in practice. Then, he needs to keep doing that consistently.

Bradbury, like Jones, is new to the roster. His NFL experience gives him an edge early on, but he’ll still have a learning curve acclimating to Ben Johnson’s offense. The Bears aren’t too concerned about that, but Roushar did note that having Bradbury around will help Jones’ learning curve as a rookie.

However, there’s a third contender at center. When Roushar was asked about Jones’ chances to win the starting center job, he did bring up second-year offensive lineman Luke Newman unprompted.

"Luke Newman’s had a really good offseason," Roushar said. "We’re going to continue to work him in that role as well."

Newman spent most of his time as the backup guard. Working him at center gives the Bears’ three options to snap the ball, which is never a bad idea to have in case of emergency. But, the Bears saw Benedet rise into the starting left tackle job.

Newman being in the mix and Roushar’s compliments mean he could see time at center someday.

Looking at the Bears' WR expectations

There’s never been a better example of how the Bears have such a high standard for themselves than how receivers coach Antwaan Randle-El addressed the drops from Bears’ receivers.

"PFF had us at 29 drops," Randle-El said. "We really had 43, according to our standard."

That’s tough for the Bears’ receiver room. It was bad enough that Johnson talked about it multiple times during the season, but the Bears are making it known it has to get better.

It’s not a frustration now. This is when the Bears can work on it, and Randle-El said it’s a problem the Bears know how to correct.

"It came back to these concentration drops, like you're not seeing the ball," Randle-El said. "Literally you're taking your eyes off the ball. You can go back and look at the drops that we had. Guys were taking their eye off the ball, trying to run before they actually have the catch and your hands are not the proper way."

Holding the receivers to a higher standard with drops is just one part. The Bears need to find a way to lift their current receiver room after the team traded DJ Moore to Buffalo. It’s tough to lose a veteran presence who was also the team’s most dependable receiver.

Randle-El was blunt. The Bears can’t replace Moore. 

That’s why the Bears are looking to Rome Odunze entering Year 3. He doesn’t have to be the biggest voice in the room – the Bears have Kalif Raymond and Scotty Miller to provide a veteran voice – but Odunze has to be one of the biggest playmakers for the Bears. The team not only needs that, but expects it.

"He's still got to go play," Randle-El said. "I don't think it takes any pressure from that standpoint."

The Bears will surround the Bears’ younger receiver room with veteran voices to help it along. Miller is one the team added recently.

Randle-El said at least one more veteran could be on its way to Halas Hall, too.

"We're at 10 wideouts," Randle-El said. "At some point, we got to bring in another, somebody that’s more than likely to be a veteran."

Bears want Williams to ‘Do less'

Caleb Williams was an exciting quarterback in 2025. His hero-ball plays and game-winning throws will be remembered in Chicago lore forever.

The Bears, though, don’t want that to be the norm. In fact, the Bears want Williams to be more boring in the middle quarters of a game.

"Do less," Bears quarterbacks coach J.T. Barrett said with a laugh. "The conversation we have with do less: you're doing a lot right now. Just do less. And "do less" is as simple as, like I said, kicking it to the flat or just taking what's given more so where it's like, yeah, could you hold onto the ball and make a crazy play? You could, but right now it's not necessary."

The biggest reason being it’s not that sustainable.

It might work for Williams. But, asking the receivers, offensive linemen and other offensive players to run scramble drills consistently isn’t efficient football. It uses too much energy too quickly.

"There's come a time where I saw late in the game where our guy's bent over huffing and puffing," Barrett said. "It was like, yeah, it's 'cause you're running everywhere when you didn't have to."