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Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson stressed a big point on Tuesday.
"No one’s making the team," he said. "No one’s earning a role."
That might come later, but there are still plays to be made.
Here are three observations from the first day of mandatory minicamp, where the back-and-forth between the offense and defense is beginning to up.
The tug-of-war between offense and defense
Before practice, Ben Johnson talked about the back-and-forth he’s seen on the practice fields.
Sometimes the defense won the day. The offense has won it’s fair share, too.
"That's the cool thing when you watch it through six practices so far," Johnson said. "Seeing the offense have the upper hand sometimes, and the defense had the upper hand some other times, too."
That trade off continued to start minicamp. The defense got after the offense on Tuesday. Montez Sweat was chasing Caleb Williams around the backfield at times.
The best play of the day was a defensive stop in the two-minute drill.
Williams led the offense down into the red zone. He hit Kalif Raymond and Luther Burden III on passes that recorded first downs.
Raymond juked rookie Dillon Thieneman on his way to a first down. Burden caught a Williams pass and rumbled down to the 30-yard line with just 30 seconds left in the drill.
That led to Williams’ next pass, which Jaylon Johnson intercepted. The pass was a little high, but Johnson displayed great eyes to locate the pass and fantastic reflexes to grab the interception.
Johnson had two interceptions on the day. The first was in 11-on-11 drills where Grady Jarrett brought immediate pressure through the interior of the line and forced Williams to throw the ball early. It sailed high from there and Johnson intercepted it.
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The specifics of pass rush fundamentals
Gervon Dexter Sr. is entering the final year of his rookie contract. He could look at it as a make-or-break season. Instead, he said he’s just learning to get better one rep at a time.
The Bears are specifically working on pass rush fundamentals where Dexter can improve in real time.
The bottom line is the Bears want to be more proactive instead of reactive. The pass rusher want to bring the fight to the opposing offensive lines.
"In our D-line, we don't like to say 'read' word," Dexter said. "You can't be in no read stance if you want to attack."
The Bears want to get off the ball quicker. The pass rush can get after quarterback in this way, and the Bears can put more pressure on opposing running backs with consistent penetration into the backfield.
It’ll take time before we can see if the lessons are really translating to the field well. Pass rushers are hard to evaluate until the shells and football pads come on in training camp.
But, the goal is to be more aggressive than they were last season.
"It's more about getting that attack stance and getting out," Dexter said.
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Availability update: good news and bad news
The Bears got a mixed bag in terms of availability on Tuesday.
The good news is that linebacker TJ Edwards and pass rusher Dayo Odeyingbo were practicing in team drills. It’s the first time Odeyingbo has practiced in a team drill since tearing his Achilles against the Ravens last season.
"Him going down last year hurt us a bit," Dexter said.
Defensive back Kyler Gordon was not present at practice. According to the Chicago Tribune, he’s nursing a soft tissue injury that’s keeping him off the practice field for now.
During practice, linebacker D’Marco Jackson was shaken up during the 7-on-7 drill, left the field with trainers and didn’t return.
That’s a development to watch at a position that has a log jam.
Edwards, fifth-round pick Keyshaun Elliott and newly signed Devin Bush are locks to make the team. Jackson signed a multi-year contract this offseason and was in line to stick around. The team also has Noah Sewell, Nephi Sewell and Jack Sanborn vying for what could be the fifth linebacker spot.
It’s early now, but anything that lingers into training camp could affect player availability. That’s one thing Johnson has stressed multiple times.