Storylines to watch at Chicago Bears mandatory minicamp

The Bears’ offseason will progress to its next step this week with the start of mandatory minicamp. The team will hold three straight days of practice starting Tuesday at Halas Hall.

Tuesday likely will be the first time the entire Bears roster will be together for a practice this offseason because they are mandatory. The Bears have had pretty good attendance for voluntary workouts during new head coach Ben Johnson’s first offseason.

There will be many storylines to watch this week. Quarterback Caleb Williams and the offense will try to make progress in learning Johnson’s offense, while the rest of the team will continue adjusting to its new coaching staff’s style.

Here are a few questions the Bears will try to answer at minicamp this week.

Are Williams and the offense looking better?

The biggest question for the Bears, like many NFL teams, surrounds the quarterback. Bears general manager Ryan Poles believed in Williams when he drafted the quarterback No. 1 overall in 2024. He only fortified that belief when he hired Johnson, one of the league’s best play callers, this offseason to help Williams develop.

While it might be tempting to break down Williams’ completion rates this week during 11-on-11’s and 7-on-7’s, there are important nuances to practices this week. Not only are Williams and the rest of the offensive players still learning a new system. The defense also isn’t allowed to fully pressure without pads.

What will be interesting to see is whether the operation looks better this week. During the first couple weeks of organized team activities, Johnson and his staff have emphasized the importance of smooth transitions going in and out of the huddle. Johnson has even sometimes stopped a play because he didn’t like the way the Bears came out of the huddle and made them start over.

They’ll keep hitting on that point this week.

“There’s a certain way that the play needs to get communicated in the huddle,” Johnson said. “There’s a certain way that the break should sound to us around that means that we’re ready for business, and we’re ready to get going. And if it doesn’t sound that way, then we’re just not going to allow the practice to go south.”

Who’s playing left tackle?

Poles dedicated his offseason to revamping an offensive line that underperformed last season. He replaced three interior starters when he brought in center Drew Dalman and guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson. But who starts at left tackle remains a question.

Starter Braxton Jones hasn’t practiced with the team this offseason and likely won’t until training camp after he had surgery to repair an ankle injury toward the end of last season. Jones’ spot already was up in the air after an up-and-down season.

Second-round pick Ozzy Trapilo and last year’s third-round pick Kiran Amegadjie have split snaps with the first team during the two OTAs the media was allowed to watch. Darnell Wright has stayed at right tackle even after Poles didn’t dismiss the idea of moving Wright over to the left side in April.

But Johnson said spots on the line were still a work in progress.

“We’re moving guys around,” Johnson said. “We want to give everyone an opportunity, so, you know, [Wright], we feel pretty comfortable keeping him at the right side right now. So the left side, until we get [Jones] back in the mix, it’s going to be a little bit of musical chairs.”

Will the defensive line take a step?

When not addressing the offensive line, Poles spent the offseason trying to give the defensive line a spark. He signed veteran defensive tackle Grady Jarrett and defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo during free agency and selected defensive tackle Shemar Turner in the second round of the draft.

It’ll be hard to gauge how good this unit can be this week since players won’t be wearing pads. But it will be interesting to see how the defensive line rotations shake out and who can impress with their speed.

Odeyingbo has gotten first team snaps at defensive end while last year’s fifth-round pick Austin Booker looks bigger and quicker. Third-year defensive tackle Gervon Dexter will need to continue his development alongside veterans Jarrett and Andrew Billings, while Turner will try to make an impact as a rookie.

The Bears are hoping to get more out of the line in defensive coordinator Dennis Allen’s aggressive style. That’ll include helping create enough pressure around the line so defensive end Montez Sweat can shine.

“I’m excited, adding new talent to our d-line,” Sweat said. “Every year you get new guys, new personalities and things, and stuff like that. I’m excited about what the year has to offer.”

Who’s here?

Attendance has been high in Johnson’s first offseason, and that’s likely to continue this week.

The Bears won’t have to deal with any contract holdouts after Poles took care of business this offseason. He rewarded cornerback Kyler Gordon, linebacker TJ Edwards and Thuney with extensions earlier in the year.

Most of the starters have attended at least one of the two OTAs open to the media, while Johnson said Gordon, Edwards and second-round pick Luther Burden III were dealing with soft-tissue issues. First-round pick tight end Colston Loveland also has been out recovering from shoulder surgery.

But Johnson didn’t expect anyone to be out this week.

“Nobody,” Johnson said. “We expect full attendance.”