After a day off Sunday, the Bears conducted their fifth training camp practice but first in pads Monday at Halas Hall. Here's what transpired:

Prior to Monday's workout, coach Ben Johnson expressed his eagerness to watch his players practice in full pads for the first time since last season, especially one-on-one drills pitting offensive linemen against defensive linemen.

"I love looking at that because it's our first time to really, really compete in that type of setting," Johnson said. "You bring out the best of both sides in that dynamic. I am looking forward to that and I think these guys, you go through the acclimation process, you can kind of feel it, the intensity pick up a little bit. I know they're ready for this. The team drills will be great for us today as we get back into it, and I think we're going to have a really good block of four days here coming up."

The Bears are scheduled to practice in pads for a second straight day Tuesday, in shells Wednesday and back in pads again Thursday before a day off Friday.

Left tackle battle to intensify

After opening training camp with four non-contact workouts, the padded practices will give coaches a better opportunity to evaluate the competition for the starting left tackle position. Veteran Braxton Jones is attempting to regain his job while being challenged by Jedrick Wills Jr., Theo Benedet and Kiran Amegadjie.

Asked what will determine who wins the spot, Johnson said: "It's consistency for me. We're judging the ability to block these defensive ends one-on-one, and then the ability to cut off on the back side of our wide zone scheme is huge for us. I think each one of those guys is probably a little bit stronger in certain areas than the other guy. When we look at it, [it's] 'who is the most consistent player that we feel like is going to help us on a weekly basis?'"

After being chosen by the Bears in the fifth round of the 2022 draft, Jones became a Day 1 starter. He was slowed by injuries each of the past two seasons but spent the offseason training and not rehabbing and is fully healthy.

"He looks great," said right guard Jonah Jackson. "He definitely looks the part physically, mentally. He's moving really well. He looks like a complete player from what I've seen last year to now, so I'm excited for what's to come with him."

Wills was selected by the Browns with the 10th pick in the first round of the 2020 draft. He was Cleveland's starting left tackle in each of his first three years before injuries limited him to 13 games in 2023-24 and forced him to sit out the 2025 season.

"Before he got hurt, he was a very powerful player," Johnson said. "It's hard to say [if he still is] yet. Hopefully, we'll see over the course of the next few days, next couple weeks if that continues to be the case. He hasn't played football in a while, so you're a little bit like 'where's the confidence level at?' From what we've seen the last four days, it's been pretty good. It's been a good start. We'll continue to build on that.

"Braxton has been great. Jed's firmly in the mix. Kiran got some reps with the ones. Theo is worth mentioning as well. We've got a really good group of guys that continue to ascend and get better. Hopefully, it's a really difficult decision for us."

Center of attention

Johnson was effusive in his praise for new center Garrett Bradbury, who was acquired by the Bears in an offseason trade with the Patriots following Drew Dalman's retirement. Bradbury arrives having started all 105 NFL games he's played over seven seasons with the Vikings (2019-24) and Patriots (2025).

"He's extremely impressive," Johnson said. "He's super smart. He's played high level football in a couple of places now and he's brought that here. I think what stands out the most is he's got elite level of communication. He is loud, he is decisive. He does a great job with seeing the defense … we're cooking right now with him out there. Really pleased with what that's looked like."

Bradbury rejoins Bears All-Pro left guard Joe Thuney, his former North Carolina State linemate and roommate during road games.

"You can tell that he and Joe have played together," Johnson said. "There's natural rapport there and I think he's really taken to the room."

Practicing in pads will also allow the Bears to work more on their running game.

"The run game is everything," Jackson said. "If you can't run the ball efficiently and you've got to drop back, that's kind of an O-lineman's worst nightmare to have to pass the ball more than run the ball. So, being able to do what we do and set up the run game, it opens up everything: play-action, dropback, screens, everything."

Last season, the Bears ranked third in the NFL in rushing, averaging 144.5 yards per game. Running backs D'Andre Swift (1,087 yards) and Kyle Monangai (783) were the league's only teammates to both run for at least 750 yards.

Swift is entering his seventh NFL season and fifth working with Johnson, a Lions offensive assistant during the running back's first three years in the league.

"I feel really good about where he's at," Johnson said. "I've had a long history with him obviously, so know the skill set. Might be a guy that we just keep an eye on as we go through camp. We need him fresh and ready to go for 17-plus games this year. That's really what we're most concerned about. There's things in the pass game that we'll continue to look at and challenge him on, but where he is as a runner right now, we feel really good about."

Monangai practiced Monday after missing the first four training camp workouts with what Johnson described as a soft-tissue injury.

To be determined

Johnson has yet to decide how much, if at all, starters will play in the Bears' preseason opener against the Browns Aug. 15 at Soldier Field.

"To be determined," he said. "We'll see what it looks like, and so that's how we're going to approach it over the next couple of weeks, and we'll be smart. Obviously, we need all these guys to be as healthy as we possibly can going into the season. It's a long year, but at the same time we need to make sure that we're prepped and we're ready. We're looking at numbers. We've got sports science data, the number of reps we're getting, the quality of the reps that we're getting. It all goes into it.

"It's probably always good to at least go through the warm-up procedure to where Game 1's not the first time at doing that. There's a lot of merit in that regard, and we'll see what it looks like. But we haven't made a determination yet."

Speed to burn

One of Johnson's takeaways from the first four training camp practices was how fast the Bears are on offense and defense.

"The team speed is what showed up more than anything, both sides of the ball," Johnson said. "We've got some guys that can run and they're doing a really good job of that right now, and it's only going to make both sides better as we go."

One key free-agent acquisition was seventh-year linebacker Devin Bush, whose speed enables him to excel in pass coverage. Playing for the Browns last season, he intercepted a Joe Burrow pass and returned it 97 yards for a touchdown.

"He's flying around," Jackson said. "He's … got a lot of skin in the game and he's a good guy vocally and physically, so he's going to be a good matchup for us."

Another speed merchant is rookie fourth-round pick Malik Muhammad, a cornerback from Texas who was clocked at 4.42 in the 40 at the NFL Combine.

"He's a dawg," said cornerback Tyrique Stevenson. "He's definitely twitchy. And he doesn't like the 'off' thing. He likes to go down in there and cover. I was telling him, 'In the league, you have to do both.' But he wants to get hands-on and cover. That's just his energy when he comes in. I like his attitude."

Special guests

The Bears welcomed more than 50 groups and organizations to practice Monday as part of a Community Day. The visitors included the Maine South High School girls state flag football champions and the GLASA (Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association) wheelchair football team, which also met with President/CEO Kevin Warren, general manager Ryan Poles, quarterback Caleb Williams and receiver Rome Odunze.