Coach Ben Johnson announced Tuesday that the Bears have selected five season-long captains: quarterback Caleb Williams and left guard Joe Thuney on offense, defensive tackle Grady Jarrett and safety Kevin Byard III on defense, and kicker Cairo Santos on special teams. A sixth captain will be chosen for every game.
"It was good to see those guys rally around that crew," Johnson said. "Lot of respect for that voting process, and to be well represented by your peers like that goes a long way."
While Williams is entering his second NFL season, the other four captains have played nine or 10 years in the league: Thuney (9), Jarrett (10), Byard (9) and Santos (10).
"These five guys emulate what it means to be leaders," general manager Ryan Poles said. "Voted on by their peers, they are who our locker room look to for leadership and we are excited for them to lead the charge heading into our 2025 season."
And the winner is …
Johnson revealed that fourth-year pro Braxton Jones has won the left tackle competition and will start Monday night's season opener against the Vikings.
"He knows what he's doing," Johnson said. "Is it perfect every play? No, it's not. But we did see the execution go up over the course of the last few weeks, so there is a trust level in him knowing what to do. We think he's going to continue to ascend the more reps that he gets."
Jones was battling for the job with Kiran Amegadjie, Theo Benedet and Ozzy Trapilo—all three of whom earned spots on the 53-man roster.
A 2023 fifth-round draft pick out of Southern Utah, Jones started all 17 games at left tackle as a rookie. He remained in that role the past two years, though he missed six games in 2023 and five in 2024 due to injuries.
Jones retains his starting position after recovering from surgery to repair an ankle injury he sustained in the second-to-last game last season.
"I've shown up each week and, coming back from this injury, done everything I can and I'm still getting there, too," Jones said. "As the season goes, you get better each and every week. I'm excited for that as well."
Road to recovery
After missing all of training camp and the preseason with an injury, Pro Bowl cornerback Jaylon Johnson hopes he can suit up Monday night.
"I'm doing everything I can to play," Johnson said Tuesday. "I know I had a good workout this morning. I'm feeling good, probably the best I felt all offseason—well, training camp, per se—but just trying to do everything I can to be back."
Johnson told reporters that he's been sidelined with a groin injury he suffered while working out before training camp.
"I was doing some releases with some receivers," he said. "Honestly, I would say [it was] a freak accident. As far as the injury, [it's the] same movement I've made plenty of times, and had a pretty bad injury in my groin."
The Bears plan to ease Johnson back into action.
"Whenever a guy misses that significant amount of time, you're very cautious in making sure that injury doesn't reoccur again," said Ben Johnson. "I know he's feeling significantly better than he was from the start. We'll see what he looks like moving around and hopefully take it from there. I know he's excited to get back out with his teammates here soon."
Welcome back
There's a second Bears cornerback named Jaylon who's just as excited to get back out on the practice field at Halas Hall: Jaylon Jones.
Jones originally signed with the Bears in 2022 as an undrafted free agent out of Mississippi and spent his first three NFL seasons in Chicago. He signed with the Cardinals in March but was waived last week and claimed by the Bears.
Jones told ChicagoBears.com that he is "happy as hell" to be back with the team.
"This is where I started, so this is home for me," Jones said. "Love everybody in the building. Things just went how they went and now I'm back here. I'm just happy to be back here and be part of the team and see familiar faces."
Jones has played in 41 games with five starts for the Bears, recording 85 tackles, four pass breakups and one forced fumble. Last year he appeared in eight contests with one start, playing 76 snaps on defense and 140 on special teams.
Jones spent time Tuesday catching up with fellow defensive backs Kyler Gordon and Jaquan Brisker, who were also part of the Bears' 2022 rookie class.
"It doesn't feel real, but it does," Jones said. "It feels like I went on a little vacation or something, but I see the direction they're going, I see the change in the building already, and I'm just excited to keep it going."
