Because they played Monday night, the Bears held a walkthrough Wednesday in preparation for Sunday's game against the Lions in Detroit.
Had they conducted a regular practice, Pro Bowl cornerback Jaylon Johnson would have been a full participant for the first time since he sustained an injury while working out before training camp.
If Johnson can play Sunday, it would provide a major boost to the Bears defense.
"It'd be big," said safety Kevin Byard III. "Jaylon is one of the best, if not the best corner in the league. He's a shutdown corner. You can just put him on their top receiver, and you don't have to worry about him. He's a leader on our defense as well. He brings a certain swagger, personality to our huddle, our defense and our team. So obviously if you can get a guy like him back, it's huge for us."
In other injury news, running back Roschon Johnson (foot), receiver Jahdae Walker (ankle), linebacker T.J. Edwards (hamstring) and cornerback Josh Blackwell (groin) would have been limited, while defensive tackle Grady Jarrett (knee) and nickel back Kyler Gordon (hamstring) would have been unable to practice.
A lot of good
Coach Ben Johnson was asked about Caleb Williams' accuracy and how it was affected by his footwork in Monday night's season opener against the Vikings.
"There was a lot of good that came out of it," Johnson said. "When he was doing it properly, the ball came out on time, and I thought he was delivering accurate footballs. But it's still not 100% all the time and that's something that were working through."
Williams completed his first 10 pass attempts and finished 21 of 35 for 210 yards and an 86.6 passer rating. On Wednesday, Johnson said that the second-year quarterback is determined to improve.
"He's been consistent really from the springtime to training camp to now and it's been looking in the mirror [and saying], 'What can I do better?'" Johnson said. "He's very coachable. It's been great. It's been a really good process.
"I can't stress enough how good the support system is around him between the coaches in that room, with J.T. Barrett and Declan [Doyle] and Press [Taylor] and then along with [quarterback] Case Keenum, someone else that has a lot of experience in this league playing this game. We're really good in terms of cleaning up the mistakes and moving forward."
High standard
Receiver Rome Odunze has been impressed with Johnson's leadership, the confidence he instills in players and how the first-year coach demands excellence from himself and others.
"He holds everybody to that standard and holds himself to that standard on a consistent basis," Odunze said. "He's been doing a great job at it."
Odunze praised Johnson for the leadership he's shown following the Bears' season-opening loss.
"It's been great," Odunze said. "You always find out who people really are when that adversity hits, and he's remained consistent in who he is, just letting us know that what we put out there wasn't good enough. If you make a few too many mistakes out there, that's what leads to a loss. But where we're headed is the direction toward the Detroit Lions and focusing on that; understand what we did wrong and trying to get better for the future and focusing on the game plan this week."
Fast friends
After serving as Lions offensive coordinator under coach Dan Campbell the previous three years, Johnson will face his former boss Sunday at Ford Field. The two first worked together as offensive assistants with the Dolphins in 2012.
"That friendship is always going to be there," Johnson said. "I view him like family, and I think he would tell you the same thing. That will never change. We have fond memories of back when I was just a young, snot-nosed computer punk as he likes to call it in Miami."
