Bears training camp report: First impressions from Day 1 of practices
The Bears' $40 million man can't stay on the field as training practice gets underway | 1st and North
Training camp is officially here, and the Bears enter Year 2 under Ben Johnson with massive expectations—and immediate headaches. Dan Campbell turns up the heat in Detroit after missing the postseason, and Kevin O'Connell promises a much more physical camp out in Minnesota, and we update the Micah Parsons injury timeline.
Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen had the quote of the day.
Training camp is under way at Halas Hall, and the Bears will be practicing without football pads for the first week. Allen made it clear there won’t be any team-altering decisions made based on this first week.
"It's hard to evaluate a lot of stuff when you're practicing in your underwear," Allen said.
There are still reps to win and opportunities to seize. The first day encapsulated that.
Here’s what we saw from the first practice of Bears’ training camp.
Organized Offense:
The Bears weren’t re-writing any record books, by any means.
The first camp practice was very low-key. It lasted about 70 minutes and didn’t have any shocking surprises.
But, the offense didn’t have any pressing issues on Day 1. Last year in camp, pre-snap penalties and pre-snap organizational issues hung over the team consistently.
It’s one day of practice, sure. But, it was something coach Ben Johnson said the team was further ahead with than a year ago. There was a prime example of this on Wednesday morning.
"Last year we talked about that pre-snap operation quite a bit," Johnson said. "I feel a lot better about that this time of year, than we did last year, so now we're just moving on to the next stage."
It’s not all perfect. Caleb Williams said he had a pre-snap miscommunication with center Garrett Bradbury. That’s to be expected with Bradbury being a new center
"That’s the point of camp," Williams said. "That’s the point of practice."
The Bears’ defense had more pre-snap penalties than the offense did. It was a good start on Wednesday; now, the question is if the Bears can do it consistently.
Dig deeper:
There’s a consistent theme among the Bears early on at Halas Hall: The 2025 season is in the past.
Part of that is moving on and not staying complacent with one year of success. Another part of it is that everywhere on the roster across the board, the Bears will be making players earn the role they want all over again.
Allen really kept stressing in his Wednesday morning presser that everything has to be earned in camp. The team isn’t going to place lofty goals on anyone, like rookie Dillon Thieneman taking over the starting strong safety job.
However, the expectations are that players will earn what they want.
The best example is when Allen was talking about expectations for cornerback Tyrique Stevenson. Allen said Stevenson could be a starting cornerback in the NFL and for the Bears. His great plays were marred by inconsistency, and the easy translation of that is that Stevenson has to earn his starting job just like everyone else.
The same goes for Jaylon Johnson, Coby Bryant and more, although from the outside looking in its easy to assume those players will earn their sports based on how talented they are.
First-day tidbits
The Bears were rotating D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai at running back with the first-team offense. It’s worth noting to see if that remains the case as the offseason continues.
Braxton Jones was with the first team at left tackle all day, and looked solid blocking Austin Booker. Kiran Amegadije played with the second team at left tackle, while Theo Benedet was on the right side with the second team.
Cam Lewis was participating Wednesday. He didn’t see much action during the offseason program. Lewis and Jaylon Jones both played at nickel cornerback with the first-team defense as Kyler Gordon remains out on the physically unable to perform list.