The Bears practiced in pads Tuesday, conducting their final training camp workout that was open to the public. Here's what transpired:
What happens on the field this week in Lake Forest and Nashville could determine who starts at left tackle and safety in the Bears' season opener in Carolina.
Coach Ben Johnson told reporters that he hopes to have more clarity at those two spots after Tuesday's workout at Halas Hall, Thursday's joint practice in Tennessee and Saturday night's preseason game against the Titans.
Asked about the left tackle competition before practice, Johnson said: "That's still an ongoing spot. It's a hot spot for us. I don't know that we are 100% sold on who that guy is going to be for Carolina yet. We're going to still work through it. That's where today is going to be huge for us. Thursday is going to be huge for us. And Saturday is going to be huge for us as well."
Braxton Jones played the first two series at left tackle in last Saturday night's preseason game in Cincinnati and continued to work with the No. 1 offense Tuesday. Theo Benedet replaced Jones against the Bengals and played three series.
At safety, rookie first-round pick Dillon Thieneman was expected to start alongside veteran Coby Bryant. But Bryant will be sidelined until at least mid-December after sustaining a leg injury early in training camp that required surgery.
"Safety is another spot where we're hoping over those big three days there that we're able to come to an agreement on who it should be going out there Game 1," Johnson said, "so that we can go forward from there."
Cam Lewis practiced opposite Thieneman with the No. 1 defense Tuesday but did not perform as well as he wanted, saying: "I don't feel like I had my best practice."
Veteran safety Xavier Woods made a couple of plays on the ball while working with the second defense Tuesday. In a team drill, the 10th-year pro showed excellent instincts and anticipation, bursting upfield to break up a Tyson Bagent pass and later intercepting a deep Case Keenum heave on the last play of practice.
A day at camp
Receiver JP Richardson made the catch of the day, leaping high along the right sideline to haul in a Keenum throw and then hanging onto the ball while getting hit by a defender as he fell to the ground.
Caleb Williams produced another highlight-reel play, scrambling out of the pocket before putting perfect touch on a pass that Colston Loveland caught down the sideline.
Cairo Santos drilled a 56-yard field goal and then followed minutes later by capping an end-of-first-half drill by nailing a 59-yarder.
Rookie on the rise
Thieneman flashed in a 7-on-7 drill, showing his speed and athleticism in breaking up a pass intended for Loveland along the sideline. The Oregon product has increasingly made more impact plays as he's gained a firmer grasp of the defense.
"At first he was definitely playing with a little bit of hesitancy in terms of maybe not knowing where he needs to be, when he needs to be there or play recognition," said tight end Cole Kmet. "I think that that has sped up each and every day he's been out there. I've seen it. Even today, he made a few good plays on Colston where I thought earlier in camp, we were kind of getting the best of him. Now he's come back and done a really good job in that regard.
"And I think he's been more physical in the run game, kind of feeling his presence there. So, it's just a matter of time. A lot of these kids that come in, they're super talented, but the NFL game is so different than what it is in college. It just takes time for them to get their feet wet and getting used to the play speed, the play style of the NFL. It's been cool to see him grow each and every week. I know he's going to help us big time this year."
Road trip
The Bears will conduct a short practice Wednesday at Halas Hall before flying to Tennessee for their joint workout and preseason game with the Titans. They'll follow the same schedule as last week when they visited the Bengals in Cincinnati.
The trips enable the Bears to get in good work versus another NFL club in a controlled practice environment while also building team chemistry.
"It will be a great opportunity for our team to come together," Johnson said. "I thought last week was exactly what we hoped it would be from that regard; a lot of guys spending time together, going out to dinner, things of that nature. We'll be able to do a little bit more team bonding again this week."
Offense responds
Johnson lauded the offense for producing points on a drive that began at the Bears' 35 with :23 left in the first half last Saturday night in Cincinnati.
After Salvon Ahmed's 16-yard run and Keenum's 4-yard pass to Richardson to the Bengals' 45, the Bears called their final timeout with just :12 to play. Keenum followed by hitting Richardson over the middle for 19 yards to the 26. The offense rushed up to the line, and Keenum spiked the ball to kill the clock with :01 to play. Santos followed with a 44-yard field goal.
The 5-play, 39-yard drive came after the Bengals had taken a 17-6 lead on Josh Johnson's 6-yard touchdown pass to tight end Tanner Hudson with :23 remaining.
"Great job by the offense responding," Johnson said. "Kind of dipped our toe in the water a little bit to see if we could get something on that first run, and we did. It was really well blocked and ended up being an explosive run for us that got us going. To piggyback on that with the completion, timeout and then 12 seconds left to get a 19-yard gain and still be able to clock it with that amount of time, that's a big credit to the offensive unit."
Johnson credited rookie center Logan Jones, a second-round pick from Iowa, for making the field-goal attempt possible.
"That was pretty awesome," Johnson said. "Kudos to Logan Jones. He's the guy that I highlighted to the team just how quickly once the ball was released from Case's hand, [Jones] was already up, ready to get that ball spotted and snapped as fast as he could. And for a young player to be that smart and aware of the situation, I thought that was really impressive."
Under the radar
Asked to name the most underrated position group on the Bears, Johnson said: "I think our defensive line's better than probably the outside world gives them credit for. I know some guys might be rookies, they might be free agents that people don't know about as much, but the way they've gone about their business, I've been really impressed with."
One defensive tackle who has stood out is sixth-round pick Jordan van den Berg. The 6-3, 310-pounder piqued the Bears' interest with an impressive performance at Georgia Tech's Pro Day, bench-pressing 225 pounds 35 times and clocking a 4.9 in the 40. Van den Berg grew up in South Africa playing rugby and cricket. He moved to the United States with his family when he was 10 and initially played basketball and baseball before starting to play football as a high school sophomore.
Against the Bengals, Van den Berg showed his speed and athleticism, racing from the middle of the field to the sideline to drag down running back Gary Brightwell on one play and chase quarterback Sean Clifford out of bounds on another.
"He's a beast," Johnson said. "He's an incredible athlete. He's still learning the game of football to a degree, and yet it's amazing what he brings to the table. He's been the same guy every single day. Smile on his face. He loves football. He loves the process. I haven't seen it yet, but someone told me he was mic'd up in that first game and he's coming to the sideline, he's talking to Grady [Jarrett] about the things that are happening on the field. Grady's helping him, giving him tidbits here and there. It's a good thing to see right now. He's firmly in the mix."
