The Bears conducted their 14th training camp practice Sunday at Halas Hall, working out in shells. Here's what transpired:
Saturday's preseason game against the Browns provided an excellent opportunity to evaluate two of the competitors in the battle for the left tackle position.
Kiran Amegadjie started the contest and then alternated with Jedrick Wills Jr. every few series. The reps were split fairly evenly, with Amegadjie playing 34 snaps and Wills on the field for 30 plays.
"Both guys showed some positive traits that you wanted to see from them," said offensive coordinator Press Taylor. "It wasn't perfect. It wasn't as clean as we'd love it to be going forward. And that's kind of why there still continues to be an open competition for the position. But I think there were some encouraging things we continue to teach from and coach from and grow from."
The competition figures to intensify with the Bears scheduled to hold joint practices followed by preseason games this week in Cincinnati and the following week in Tennessee.
Braxton Jones, who did not play against the Browns, continued Monday to work his way back from an injury that had sidelined him for a week. He is attempting to regain the starting left tackle position he held his first three NFL seasons from 2022-24 before being hampered by injuries late in 2024 and again last year.
The joint practices — where quarterbacks are not permitted to be hit — will give the Bears a unique chance to further assess their left tackles.
"These joint practices will be huge for that," Taylor said. "It's kind of an opportunity where we'll go into it at times with intentionally not helping those guys on the side. That's different from a game week. You face a dynamic pass rusher on one side, you may provide presence with the tight end.
"In these situations, these controlled environments where your quarterback has got the red jersey on, it's a little bit more of an opportunity to [say], 'let's go see you one-on-one with some guys. There's a couple different pass rushers you haven't seen.' It's a great opportunity over these next two weeks for everybody in that role to really prove their worth for us."
Ahead of schedule
The competition for the left tackle job suddenly expanded by one Sunday when the Bears activated Ozzy Trapilo from the physically unable to perform (PUP) list.
The 2025 second-round pick initially was expected to miss most, if not all, of the 2026 season with a knee injury he sustained in the Bears' playoff win over the Packers.
"Can you believe it? Yeah, it's awesome," said left guard Joe Thuney. "Just a credit to him, the staff here, trainers, weight staff, everybody. It's just great to see him back on the field. Who knows what the timetable will be? But great to see him moving in football positions again, helmet on. He had another great year last year, and it's cool to see him out there."
Trapilo excelled while starting the final six regular-season games last year, seemingly establishing himself as the Bears' left tackle of the future before he was injured.
"He's another guy who came in as a rookie, worked really hard, in his playbook all the time, great teammate," Thuney said. "Just a great guy, a guy you want out there. So, it's awesome to see him put the work in the whole offseason to try to get back into position to play again. I'm really happy for him."
Stepping up
Taylor was pleased to see first-year receiver Kaden Davis make the same type of impact plays in the preseason opener as he has throughout training camp.
Davis led the Bears with four receptions for 88 yards, including a 41-yarder. He also contributed as a downfield blocker.
"He's done a great job," Taylor said. "He continues to produce with the opportunities he's been given. You've got to put wins on tape. He had a contested catch on the sideline; he had a couple other plays. He did a good job blocking. We had a good third-down conversion on a run early with Roschon [Johnson] where he shows up and he's blocking the safety, kind of springs us for our longest run of the day. So, he put a lot of good things on tape, and he's continued to do that."
Promising start
Rookie tight end Sam Roush started the preseason opener and played 23 snaps. The third-round pick caught two passes for 15 yards.
"I thought Sam made his presence felt in the run game, which is something we wanted to see," Taylor said. "I think there's still opportunities to grow in the pass game. He had a ball come his way that we would have probably liked to see a better ball, but we talked through with Sam the coaching points of how we could potentially run the route a little bit better. And that's something that's just going to continue to grow and expand in his game."
Special guest
Baseball Hall of Famer and former New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter spoke to the Bears last week at Halas Hall.
"That was awesome," Taylor said. "From the era I grew up in, that's greatness walking in the building. The coolest thing he had was just his perspective on everything. He talked about [how] he didn't ever think about failing. He's known as being one of the most clutch players of our generation. He talked about, 'When I had an opportunity for it, I went back to the last time I had success. I didn't think about the time I failed in this moment.'
"He talked about going back to [when] he was a sophomore in high school and scoring the game-winning basket. That's what he's thinking about when he's in Game 7 of the World Series up to bat in a critical moment. He's thinking of the time [he] succeeded. I thought that was really cool, as perspective to share. He seemed like a pretty down-to-earth guy. His life is probably a lot different than a lot of our lives. To see that humility and the personality he had was really cool."
"He was great," Thuney added. "Really cool to hear him speak. Great lessons, a guy who's so successful, and such a great leader. It's awesome when people can come in like that and give you their opinions and thoughts. I learned a lot from him."
