Chicago Bears training camp: Rome Odunze, new offensive line configurations highlight offense's day

Chicago Bears first preseason game flashes promise and points

FOX 32's Lou Canellis shares his takeaways from the Chicago Bears first preseason game under new head coach Ben Johnson.

The Chicago Bears' Wednesday practice came with a few curveballs.

Namely, the Bears worked on situational offensive drills and did so with new offensive line configurations. Those curveballs didn't overshadow the connection between Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze, however.

O-Line change ups?:

The Bears rolled out a new look on their offensive lines.

What's been the norm since the start of training camp is Ozzy Trapilo and Braxton Jones rotating at left tackle. They've split reps and days with the first- and second-team offenses, especially with Kiran Amegadije missing time with an injury.

On Wednesday, the curveball came in the 11-on-11 team periods.

Theo Benedet, the undrafted free agent out of University of British Columbia in 2024, took first-team reps at left tackle for two separate periods. Trapilo did not get reps at left tackle, either. He was the right tackle for the second-team. Jones split first-team left tackle reps with Benedet on Wednesday.

Before practice on Wednesday, the Bears offensive assistants spoke to reporters and offensive line coach Dan Roushar has seen improvements with Benedet as he's gotten to know him and coached him more.

"I really didn't know much about him and every day he's just continuing to work and improve and he grabs our attention with the things he does really well," Roushar said. "We know that he's not a finished product by anything. But the growth from spring to now has been incredible. 

The work Benedet has done in the offseason and leading into the preseason hasn't gone unnoticed.

"There's a lot of things for him to improve on – he knows that – and we've got to work on it," "He is working his tail off and he has put himself in a position to go compete for a job somewhere in this group."

That recognition is materializing for Benedet, who played right tackle as recently as Sunday in the Bears' preseason tie vs. Miami.

Now, it remains to be seen how much this shakes up the offensive line race. Offensive coordinator Declan Doyle said on Monday there was some separation in the battle between Trapilo and Jones.

"I think that they are starting to separate themselves from each other," Doyle said of the competition at left tackle on Monday. "I still think that battle's wide open. There's a lot of football left to be had. Ben said it today in a team meeting, we're really halfway through camp at this point. That's starting to become clearer, but we are still very much in a battle."

However, Benedet's entrance into the left tackle race could make this a four-player race for the starting left tackle job, depending on how the team views Amegadije's chances after returning to practice on Wednesday after being sidelined for a few weeks.

The joint practice and preseason game with Buffalo this week will be a bench mark in deciding how the team proceeds at left tackle.

A good day for Odunze:

The Bears' offense only had one major hiccup on Wednesday.

There was a sequence in 11-on-11 drills where the Bears first-team offense lined up and attempted a pitch play. Right before that, the offensive line was flagged for a false start.

When quarterback Caleb Williams took the snap, he tried to pitch the ball to D'Andre Swift but the pitch missed. It wasn't close, either. Montez Sweat scooped up the fumble. Ben Johnson wasn't pleased.

Outside that botched pitch play, the Bears' offense had a uniform day. They didn't terrorize the first-team defense, but they moved the ball consistently. There were three pre-snap flags that moved the offense back, but Williams was able to move the ball through the air.

Williams went to Rome Odunze four times in practice, and Odunze caught all four passes. He muscled his way in front of a defensive back to catch a touchdown in the red zone during the third 11-on-11 period for the first-team offense.

Odunze has impressed the coaching staff by learning the offense from multiple points of view.

"He can be a Z, he can be at the X," wide receivers coach Antwaan Randle El said. "He can run routes and he understands the offense. When you understand the offense, we can put you in different spots."

Williams, with an unofficial count, completed 11 of his 16 passes during five team drills between four 11-on-11 sessions and one two-minute drill. That's a completion percentage of 68.8.

That isn't the 70 percent Johnson wants out of Williams but that figure is getting closer.