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Bears' left tackle race: Ben Johnson talks Jones, Trapilo, Amegadjie
‘Everything is going to matter:’ Bears coach Ben Johnson talks about the start of training camp and the three-man race for starting left tackle. FULL
It's back to school for the Chicago Bears. Although, defensive coordinator Dennis Allen had a glass-half-empty view on Day 1.
"Training camp is a long, dark tunnel," Allen said.
The Bears reported to their first day of training camp practice on Wedesday, where it was a good day for the defense and we saw our first camp alignments.
Here's what we took away from the first day of Bears' training camp at Halas Hall.
Defense makes noise Day 1:
The defense was very loud on Day 1 of training camp. This can be taken in two different ways.
First things first, they were making life difficult for the offense. Specifically, the first-team defense was making Day 1 a challenge for the first-team offense.
They intercepted Caleb Williams' first pass of training camp. Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds crept over the middle and snagged a pass on a seam-route throw meant for DJ Moore. That's a boon for Allen, who sees Edmunds as a key piece to the defense.
"I'm anticipating him being an exceptional playmaker for us," Allen said. "He's got size, he's got range, he's got speed … Look, it's hard to throw over him."
Fellow linebacker TJ Edwards said the interception helped set the tone for the defense, and the defense followed through. Dayo Odeynigbo also had a sack and Jaquan Brisker tipped a pass that was close to being another interception.
On multiple occasions, Brisker made sure to be just loud enough to make sure the offense knew the play did not work.
The offense had enough issues on its hands, as head coach Ben Johnson yanked the first-team offense in a 7-on-7 drill when they struggled to line up properly.
The defense didn't help, putting the offense on its heels early in the middle of its offensive installation.
"That was a good start," Allen said. "But, we've got a long way to go."
Alignments on Day 1:
The team will miss Jaylon Johnson in the first few weeks of training camp, or for however long he'll miss with a leg injury that landed him on the non-football injury list, but the Bears have someone in his place for now.
Recently signed cornerback Nashon Wright took Johnson's spot on the first-team offense. He was added this offseason after Jaylon Jones, the Bears' backup cornerback the last few seasons, signed with the Arizona Cardinals.
The Bears rotated a few players at left tackle during a walk-through period, but rookie Ozzy Trapilo took over with the most first-team reps at left tackle during the 11-on-11 periods.
Braxton Jones was present, but he and Kiran Amegadije did not take a first-team rep. It was all Trapilo for now, as the Bears' offensive line looks like:
RT: Darnell Wright
RG: Jonah Jackson
C: Drew Dahlman
LG: Joe Thuney
LT: Ozzy Trapilo
Roll Call:
Jones was present, but did not participate in 11-on-11 drills. He was active in the team stretches and in a brief walk-through period.
Colston Loveland was practicing on Wednesday, and participated in pass-catching drills. He stumbled and fell on his first pass-catching rep, but made up for it with consistent catches the rest of the way through.
Rookies Zah Frazier and Luther Burden III weren't present during Wednesday's practice. Burden was still working his way back from a soft-tissue injury he suffered during rookie minicamp that also kept him sidelined for most of mandatory minicamp and OTAs.