Safety position takes a step forward: Observations from Day 2 of Chicago Bears mandatory minicamp
Micah Parsons professes his love for Caleb Williams, as the Bears may be packing for Indiana | 1st & North
The Bears officially shift their stadium focus to Hammond, Indiana, the Packers Micah Parson heaps praise on Caleb Williams, the Vikings new GM has his work cut out for him, and Dan Campbell deals with severe uncertainty in the secondary.
It was a hot one for the Chicago Bears at Halas Hall.
The mandatory minicamp action continued as the Bears laid the groundwork for what they want to achieve come training camp.
Here are our observations from the second day of Chicago Bears mandatory minicamp at Halas Hall, where the safety and offensive line are seeing some mixing and matching.
Kalif Raymond has a place early on
Johnson said on Tuesday that roster spots and roles aren’t solidified.
"No one's really earning a role quite yet," Johnson said. "That'll all get figured out in training camp."
So far, Kalif Raymond has been an active recipient of Caleb Williams’ throws. He had one of the best catches of the day, where the defense sent a linebacker on a blitz during the 11-on-11 team drills at Williams and Williams lofted a pass to the back of the end zone.
Raymond sped up, caught the pass and stayed in bounds for a touchdown.
What does help is that Raymond is familiar with Johnson’s offense from the two spending time together in Detroit. It’s not the same in Chicago, but the concepts are familiar to Raymond.
"There’s enough to where I understand schematically what we're trying to do, but the verbiage and everything like that, you still kind of like dial that in, whether it's one thing or another," Raymond said on Tuesday. "That's a little bit of change."
The change is working for the Bears. Williams has gone to Raymond often in minicamp. That touchdown was the most outstanding play, and if it weren’t for Coby Bryant it would’ve been the play of the day.
For now, the Bears have a receiver that Williams is trusting early on in practices.
The team is trusting Rome Odunze and Luther Burden III to take bigger steps this season with DJ Moore in Buffalo, but Raymond is emerging as a key player that could be depended on as a veteran.
The Bears had that in Olamide Zaccheaus last season, but Johnson doesn’t want to compare those two players.
"I do have a history with Kalif and, you wouldn't know looking at him right now that he's 31, going on 32," Johnson said on Tuesday. "He has this vertical push to his game where he comes raging off the football, and if you're a DB you can't help but back up and that carries over with all the routes that he runs."
Safety Dance
The Bears were open about when the offseason began about how they needed to find a way to re-sign or re-tool their safety room.
General manager Ryan Poles did that during the offseason by signing Coby Bryant and drafting Dillon Thieneman. He also re-signed Elijah Hicks, too. This is what the Bears are working with at safety so far.
Hicks took first-team snaps at strong safety next to Bryant to start the team drills.
But, the Bears gave Thieneman first-team snaps for the first time during offseason practices on Wednesday.
It could be a pivotal moment for the rookie. He’s slowly learning how to operate in the offseason programs compared to some of the veterans.
"Me being a year-five guy and he’s a rookie, so he wants to go full speed and everything," Bryant said Wednesday. "In the individual drills, we have to tell him to slow down because I’m not running that fast."
It’s important for the two to get used to playing with each other, and for Thieneman to take some learning curves. Bryant is helping him with that, teaching him how to take care of his body and more.
Bryant has been a great example so far, especially after he intercepted Caleb Williams in a two-minute drill to end the sequence after the offense had driven into the defense's territory.
But, it’s clear the Bears are trusting Hicks with those first-team reps as a veteran they want to be able to count on early on.
The Bears did also sign defensive back Cam Lewis to a multi-year contract, but he hasn’t seen the field yet in minicamp. The Bears are giving Thieneman every chance to ramp up into the safety they envisioned when they took him No. 25 overall. But, they’re trusting Bryant to help lead whoever’s never to him as a player with a Super Bowl pedigree.
"He knows what good football and bad football looks like," Johnson said.
Offensive line continues to rotate
The Bears have been consistent in one aspect of the offensive line: Braxton Jones is taking the majority of first-team reps at left tackle.
Jones was recovering from a broken ankle that sidelined him for most of the offseason. Getting these reps at left tackle are paramount for a player that has a chance to prove he belongs in the league.
"It means everything to me to get these reps in OTA’s," Jones said. "I’m blessed to be out there."
So far, he’s consistently the team’s starting left tackle. Luke Newman has played right guard next to Darnell Wright, but that’s not too surprising to see the Bears give Jonah Jackson some veteran days. The team has been open about what Newman has brought to the team from a versatility standpoint, too.
After that, the Bears are moving pieces around.
Theo Benedet was playing right tackle with the second team on Wednesday. Kiran Amegadije was playing left tackle with the second team. Jedrick Wills Jr. was back on the field, playing left tackle with the third-team offense.
On Tuesday, Benedet was playing left tackle with the second-team offense. Rookie Mason Murphy was playing with the second-team offense at right tackle.
This will become more solidified in training camp, but right now the Bears are experimenting.
Injuries
Kyler Gordon wasn’t out on the field again. It’s likely he won’t be out there on Thursday, either.
Linebackers Keyshaun Elliott, Ruben Hyppolite II and D’Marco Jackson didn’t participate in practice, either. Jackson left practice on Wednesday after getting shaken up.