PHOENIX – Bears coach Ben Johnson spoke to the media Monday at the NFL owners meetings. Here are five things we learned from that session:

(1) Johnson wants to get the ball into explosive receiver Luther Burden III's hands "as often as we possibly can" this season.

Last year, the rookie second-round pick from Missouri blossomed into a key contributor over the second half of the season, regularly displaying big-play ability and excellent run-after-catch skills. After averaging 1.9 receptions for 24.4 yards in his first seven games, he averaged 4.3 catches for 60.1 yards in his final eight contests.

"He's exactly what we thought we were getting out of the draft last year," Johnson said. "This guy is a dynamic playmaker. He's got some of the best run-after-the-catch in the game right now. I really believe that. We've got to continue to get the ball in his hands as often as we possibly can.

"What I've grown to love about him is this guy loves football. He's been in all offseason. He's been lifting weights with our strength staff. He's really, really excited to get a full offseason going and look to develop a bigger route tree."

Burden and rookie first-round choice Colston Loveland—a tight end from Michigan—both emerged over the second half of the year after missing most or all of the offseason program with injuries. After averaging 1.8 catches and 19.3 yards with no touchdowns in six games played in September and October, Loveland averaged 4.9 receptions and 65.8 yards with six TDs in the Bears' final 12 contests, including the postseason.

"Both [Burden] and Colston, as young players, as rookies that didn't have a full offseason last year, it took us a little bit longer to get them going and really [get] the production that we had hoped for," Johnson said. "By midseason, the confidence had grown. I certainly felt better about putting [Burden] in different spots, running different routes, and Caleb had developed a rapport by that point. That's where you started to see things take off for Luther."

(2) Johnson revealed that Bears personnel evaluators and coaches agree that new center Garrett Bradbury will fit the team "like a glove."

After Pro Bowler Drew Dalman unexpectedly retired, Johnson and general manager Ryan Poles and their respective staffs identified Bradbury as the perfect replacement. The Bears proceeded to acquire the eight-year NFL veteran from the Patriots in exchange for a 2027 fifth-round pick.

"We went through a whole process," Johnson said. "Ryan and his crew and then [offensive line coach] Dan Roushar and [assistant offensive line coach] Kyle DeVan had a heavy say in it as well in terms of evaluating what the replacements were going to look like. We came to a consensus that Garrett was going to fit us like a glove."

Bradbury was selected by the Vikings with the 18th pick of the 2019 draft out of North Carolina State. A regular starter from Day 1, he spent his first six seasons with Minnesota before opening all 17 games for the AFC champion Patriots last year.

In Chicago, Bradbury will reunite with All-Pro left guard Joe Thuney, his former N.C. State teammate and roommate for road games.

"[Bradbury] had a lot of success last year; made it to the Super Bowl," Johnson said. "Very cerebral player. Joe Thuney knows him really well, so there's some natural chemistry that I think we're going to have on the inside.

"He's going to fit what we like to do in the run game with our wide zone, running off the football. And when we watched him, we felt really good about what he did in pass pro as well. I think he's going to be really what the doctor ordered for us in terms of [replacing] a guy like Drew. He had a Pro Bowl season and played really, really well, and yet we feel like Garrett is going to fit us really well also."

(3) Johnson views new safety Coby Bryant as a tone-setter who will bring a nasty disposition to coordinator Dennis Allen's defense.

Bryant signed a three-year contract with the Bears after spending his first four seasons with the Seahawks. Last year he helped Seattle win the Super Bowl, starting all 15 games he played and recording a career-high four interceptions.

"It's something that 'DA' brought up as we're going over self-scout over the last month and a half was the best defenses usually have two or three trained killers," Johnson said. "You usually don't have 11 of them, OK, but you've got two or three that are tone-setters that can really elevate the play of everyone around him. When we watched the tape, we felt like that jumped off when Coby was on the field. He's a guy that comes out, whether he's playing quarters, playing the post, playing down in the box, he's coming down, and if he sees somebody, he's looking to light them up.

"There are certainly some things to his game that we're going to look to improve; that's like that with every player. And yet we feel like he's got a really solid foundation with his play style that's going to naturally just percolate with it with the rest of the guys."

Johnson sensed that killer instinct a few weeks ago when Bryant arrived at Halas Hall after signing with the Bears.

"My little exposure with him when he came in was, 'Holy cow, this guy has got the 'it' factor to him,'" Johnson said. "He's got some dynamic traits in terms of his personality that I think are going to rub off on our guys—and not to mention the way he plays the game is what we want our defense to look like as well."

(4) Johnson indicated that left tackle Braxton Jones has bulked up and is "very determined to get his career trajectory back to where it was before."

An unrestricted free agent for the first time this offseason, Jones signed a one-year contract to return to the Bears in large part due to the chance to compete for his old starting job. Last year, rookie second-round pick Ozzy Trapilo had seemingly established himself at the position, but he suffered a knee injury in the playoff win over the Packers that is expected to sideline him for most or all of the 2026 season.

Selected by the Bears in the fifth round of the 2022 draft out of Southern Utah, Jones started all 17 games as a rookie. He remained the No. 1 left tackle the next two seasons, though injuries limited him to 11 contests in 2023 and 12 in 2024.

Despite still rebounding from a broken fibula that ended his 2024 campaign, Jones won a competition last summer with Trapilo, Theo Benedet and Kiran Amegadjie for the starting left tackle position. Jones opened the first four games before being replaced by Trapilo in the second quarter of a road win over the Raiders.

A few weeks later, Jones sustained a knee injury in practice that sidelined him for the rest of the season. He did return to practice in advance of the playoffs but did not play in either of the Bears' two postseason games.

"We started the season with Braxton," Johnson said. "He would tell you he still didn't feel 100% like himself from the prior year's injury. What he put on tape those first four games, he didn't feel like was very reflective of what he's capable of. Looking back at it, we would agree with that. There's more in there than what we saw. He ended up getting injured in practice during the season, so we lost him for a stretch as well and only got him back right there at the very end, and we didn't feel like it was fair to force him into action in the playoffs right off the bench just like that.

"I'm excited about where he's at right now. He came in when he signed the contract and he looked like a brand-new man as far as I'm concerned. This guy was beefed up. He was probably 310 pounds and he looked yoked up. He's very determined to get his career trajectory back to where it was before."

(5) Johnson "stood on the table" for the Bears to sign free agent receiver/return specialist Kalif Raymond.

Johnson, receivers coach/assistant head coach Antwaan Randle El and quarterbacks coach J.T. Barrett all worked with Raymond with the Lions from 2022-24.

In five total seasons with Detroit, Raymond caught 171 passes for 2,185 yards and eight touchdowns. He also averaged 11.3 yards on 132 punt returns with three touchdowns, earning second-team All-Pro honors in 2022 and 2024. His 413 punt return yards were the most in the NFL in 2024 even though he only played in 12 games.

"Anytime you have a touchpoint with a player, whether it's through free agency or the draft, it helps [that] you know what you're going to get," Johnson said. "Any time one of our coaches or personnel guys has a chance to be with another player, you feel pretty good. Absolutely, I stood on the table for Kalif. So did Randle El, so did J.T. Barrett. We know him really well. We know what he's going to bring to the table. He's a phenomenal teammate. It starts there. He's going to elevate that locker room. He's going to practice his tail off. That's what he's done his entire career."

Raymond entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2016 from Holy Cross but did not blossom until he joined the Lions in 2021. He spent his first few years in the league shuffling between the Broncos (2016), Jets (2017), Giants (2017), Titans (2018), Giants again (2018) and Titans again (2018-20).

"He's one of those guys that has flown under the radar," Johnson said. "He's had to earn every little thing that he's gotten, so his story really resonates with a lot of guys in that locker room. I'm excited to see what he'll bring to the table for us. He's going to get what he earns as well. It's no different for him. I have high expectations for him because I've been with him before and I know what he's capable of, but he's got to come into training camp and prove that again and again. I'm excited about that addition."