Five Chicago Bears players who must pass the eye test in training camp

The spring was for learning. Training camp will present competition. Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson made that abundantly clear throughout the team’s offseason program, driving it home for players that a demanding camp in July and August will set up as a proving ground for roles to be carved out and for starting jobs to be won.

The Bears seem to have the wind at their back coming off a strong spring and following a 2025 season that included a division title and a playoff win over the rival Green Bay Packers. But competing in a difficult division in a cutthroat league, they also understand there is no time to exhale, with Johnson identifying complacency and entitlement as two enemies his team must continue to battle.

The Bears won’t play their first regular-season game until Sept. 13, a road test in Carolina. But there is plenty to be accomplished across all three phases before then. And when camp begins next month, a plethora of storylines will merit attention.

While it will be important to listen to what Johnson and other coaches reveal with their progress reports, in some cases, the eye test will prove more meaningful. To that end, here are five specific things worth scrutinizing throughout camp.

1. Caleb Williams’ ball placement

Williams will almost certainly fill up social media feeds during training camp with a new reel of jaw-dropping throws that continue to confirm his superstar potential. But Johnson will be looking for his quarterback to complement such “Wow!” moments with consistency across the more humdrum tasks of the position.

For Williams, that includes showing continued command of the huddle and increasing his mastery of the pre-snap operation. It means marrying his growing understanding of the offense with strong decisions. It also means spitting out the football quickly and decisively when his primary read is open and understanding how to continue through plays — with fluid progressions, scramble-drill opportunities or openings to run.

And, yes, near the top of Williams’ priority list will be a push from coaches to be extra sharp with his ball placement. Completions are nice. But precise passes that squeeze the maximum gain out of plays will receive extra commendation.

Said Johnson: “We want to give these pass catchers — and we have so many talented ones — opportunities to run after the catch. So we’re being very critical on where we’re putting that football.”

Williams has been receptive. “It’s something I realize is supremely important,” he said.

2. Kyler Gordon’s presence

We’re not just interested in seeing Gordon back at practice. We’re interested in seeing him on the field. Every day. With no physical setbacks. Flying around and making the impact he’s capable of.

Said nickelbacks coach Cannon Matthews: “Kyler can just do things physically I don’t know I’ve seen before. I’ve joked with him at times that I didn’t quite understand the ‘Spider-Man’ deal from afar. But once I got here and you see his movements and his ability to adjust, especially at that position inside, as good of a coach as I think I am, there’s nothing I am doing to put that part of it together. That’s God-gifted.”

Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen has been eager to use those gifts. But to do so, Gordon must be available and remain available. Last year, after missing chunks of training camp, he was sidelined for 14 games with hamstring, calf and groin injuries. An undisclosed ailment then kept him off the field for most of this spring, too.

So when will the standout cornerback be back? When will he be operating at full strength again? And how can he maximize his impact?

3. Braxton Jones’ confidence

Coming back from a fractured ankle that ended his 2024 season wasn’t easy. Jones’ physical limitations created mental obstacles, which then resulted in a psychological drain that was heavier for him than anticipated.

And while Jones won the Bears’ drawn-out battle for the starting left tackle job coming out of the preseason last summer, his grip on it was tenuous. He was benched in September and later suffered a knee injury that sent him to injured reserve for the final 11 games of the regular season.

When last season ended, it was uncertain whether the 27-year-old lineman would receive a second contract with the team that drafted him in Round 5 in 2022. But Jones re-upped with Chicago in March — one year, $10 million with $3 million guaranteed — and now seems to have the inside track on being the Week 1 left tackle, even with players like Kiran Amegadjie, Jedrick Wills and Theo Benedet challenging.

Asked what Jones might show this year that he didn’t last year, Ben Johnson suggested Jones’ improved health will stimulate improvement.

“His comfort level has risen, just in terms of knowing what to do and how we want to get it done,” Johnson said. “I think this is the best his body has felt in a while. So we’re really encouraged with where he’s at.”

Jones, who spent part of his offseason training with former Pro Bowl tackle Terron Armstead, has felt his confidence return. “A big piece of it,” he said, “is simply feeling right in the lower half.”

Now he is also focusing on building greater performance endurance after noticing dips in his play in the second halves of games early last season.

“The biggest thing is just getting as many reps as I can,” he said. “Obviously, I’ve got to be better in certain areas. Pass (protection), run-game efficiency, all that is going to come together. But I think the amount of reps I can get and just working the body and making sure everything’s rolling by taking as many reps as I possibly can is going to be the biggest thing to set me apart.”

4. Rome Odunze’s explosion

Odunze’s 2024 season was disrupted by foot injuries, plural. After a strong start, his production dipped. A stress fracture lingered. And after the talented receiver had a second foot issue pop up in November, he missed the final five weeks of the regular season.

At times Odunze also had lapses catching the football, including a missed opportunity near the goal line on the opening drive of the Bears’ playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

In June, Odunze was asked when, during his offseason recovery, he felt his foot was back to normal and offered this: “This is my new normal. And it’s not from a standpoint of where I’m always in pain. But the way my foot broke, there are calluses in there that create a different type of foot structure with those bones. … So my new normal is kind of what I am going into.”

Keep that on the radar with an eye on seeing if Odunze’s “new normal” still allows him to be the top-tier playmaker the Bears believed he could be when they drafted him at No. 9 in 2024.

That means showing enough explosiveness to create regular separation. It means consistently making contested catches. It means being a difference-maker and not just a contributor for Williams and this offense.

At the conclusion of the spring, Johnson had few concerns about Odunze’s physical state.

“He says he feels great; he looks good to me,” Johnson said. “We go back and forth as a coaching staff, and he looks like the same old Rome. I think we’re in good shape.”

The next step for Odunze will be delivering a strong camp to remove all doubt.

5. Dillon Thieneman’s speed

Since draft night in April, Thieneman has been lauded for his combination of speed, instincts and aggressiveness. Add his versatility, and it’s easy to understand why Allen is eager to feature the rookie safety as a difference-making chess piece.

Paired with free-agent newcomer Coby Bryant, the Bears now have two starting safeties who can be dangerous in ways that will help the entire defense stay unpredictable. Bryant has already been impressed with Thieneman’s pedal-to-the-metal wiring and his ability to react when he recognizes something within a play.

“He’s exciting to watch, man,” Bryant said. “He makes plays every day. It’s been special.”

The Bears believe the speed of Thieneman and Bryant will elevate their secondary. Against a talented offense that will test them every practice, that will be worth keeping track of throughout camp.

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