What we learned from Chicago Bears open OTA practice on June 3
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The Chicago Bears are seemingly putting players on notice.
It wasn't a direct warning shot. It wasn't a complete callout, either. Bears coach Ben Johnson made it known there's an expectation.
Here's what we learned from the second open practice of OTAs, where the team stressed player availability and Rome Odunze talked his "new normal."
There was a bigger stress of availability
On Wednesday, Montez Sweat and Kyler Gordon were not present at OTAs practice. Jaylon Johnson was present. TJ Edwards and Dayo Odeyingbo were present and rehabbing their injuries.
Right before practice began, Johnson was asked about Gordon. He's a player the Bears have invested a long-term deal in, but he only played in three games for the Bears last season due to injuries.
Johnson said he and Gordon spoke about how they weren't happy about how the season went. Johnson was the spring was a chance to go in the right direction. However, Gordon isn't at OTAs currently.
"We're still working through that. We're still trying to get that availability piece going," Johnson said. "We know he's a good player when he's out there but trust level is a huge thing for this team, for this coaching staff, for the locker room and you can only develop that trust by being available."
Take these words in contrast to what Johnson said about wide receiver Rome Odunze.
"He's going to lay it out on the line every time he gets on the grass," Johnson said. "I think his teammates appreciate that, his coaching staff certainly appreciates that. Hopefully, we can get him 17-plus games this year and his career will really take off for that."
Johnson has a point in stressing player availability. Not only can he truly know if a player is healthy or not by seeing them in person, but he knows that player is getting all the possible reps they need to fit into the scheme the Bears have.
He wants to see that from Gordon still.
The 'new normal' for Rome Odunze
Odunze was a catalyst for the Bears' offense.
In the first four games of the regular season, he scored five touchdowns, caught 20 passes and recorded 296 receiving yards. He and Caleb Williams were showcasing a connection that paced the Bears' offense.
However, after a win over the Eagles on Nov. 28, Odunze didn't play another regular season game after recovering from a foot fracture.
He's healed now. But, he won't be back to his old self. The fracture altered his foot.
"This is my new normal," Odunze said. "It’s not from a standpoint that I’m always in pain, but the way my foot broke, there’s callouses in there that create a different type of foot structure with those bones. Different types of things that kind of shift things around."
It's something to keep in mind as the Bears look to Odunze now that DJ Moore has been traded to Buffalo.
The team isn't shying away from Odunze, either. He had a high volume of throws come his way during Wednesday's OTAs practice. Odunze isn't worried about his foot affecting his game, either.
He'll just need to adapt to what he feels now.
"I don’t think that’s anything that’s going to prohibit me from making plays," Odunze said. "I feel like with the break it’s just like when you tear your AC: it’s never really back to normal."
OTAs Day 2: Left tackle features Braxton Jones
In last week's open practice, Braxton Jones worked with the first team at left tackle.
On Wednesday, he was with the first-team offense at left tackle again. Once is a happenstance and twice is a coincidence, meaning a third time seeing Jones with the first-team offense would be a pattern.
It sounds like Jones is ahead of the rest of the pack trying to separate themselves as the Bears' starting left tackle.
"Last year at this time, he was still getting back to the groove and certainly through training camp," Johnson said. "It was a gradual process, and we all know in this room that that battle went on for a long time and took a while."
Jones wasn't completely healthy to start training camp in 2025 after his leg fracture ended his 2024 season in December. The coaching staff is noting that he's back to a place where he wants to be health-wise.
That's reflected in how Jones was with the first-team offense at left tackle. Theo Benedet played with the second team at right tackle and Kiran Amegadije played with the second-team offense at left tackle.
"I think he's come back and his comfort level has risen just in terms of knowing what to do and how we want to get it done," Johnson said. "This is the best body is felt in a while as well."
Jones' teammates see it, too.
"He looks like a house, he's moving well," Bears' guard Jonah Jackson said. "Just his confidence inj what he's doing has been exponentially different from last year."