After having Sunday off, the Bears conducted their fifth training camp practice and first in full pads Monday at Halas Hall. Here's what transpired:
In team drills, safety Jaquan Brisker demonstrated his range and ball skills when he dove toward the sideline to break up a Caleb Williams pass after the quarterback had scrambled to his left.
"I should've picked that," Brisker said. "I didn't think he was going to try me, but he did. I should've come away with that, but it just ended up being a PBU."
Known for his physicality, Brisker also takes pride in his ability to make plays on the ball. A 2022 second-round pick out of Penn State, he has recorded three interceptions and 13 pass breakups in 35 games over three seasons with the Bears.
"I'm good at playing the ball," Brisker said. "As long as I'm near the ball, I feel like it should've been mine. But next time it'll be an interception."
Brisker has enjoyed learning veteran defensive coordinator Dennis Allen's system and thinks the unit is further along than anticipated.
"We're playing a lot of different coverages and things like that," Brisker said. "We're in and out with a lot of different guys. We're rotating guys, a lot of different guys. It's fun. We're flying around and making plays. We're actually playing faster than what I think they thought and what I thought. We're in a good position."
Brisker is especially excited about the multiple ways he's being employed in the scheme.
"I'm in a lot of different packages, so I'm studying other positions too, which is perfect," he said. "That's exactly what I wanted. I've been waiting for so long.
"I'm going to be close to the line of scrimmage. Sometimes I'll be back. But I love being closer to the line of scrimmage. Really just having me anywhere where you've got to account for me, trying to see where I'm at. Just like [coach] Ben [Johnson] said the other day: 'You've got to know where 9 is,' and that's true."
A day at camp
One highlight of Monday's practice was rookie tight end Colston Loveland reaching high to catch a Williams pass over the middle in a 7-on-7 drill.
Quarterback Tyson Bagent completed impressive throws to receiver Tyler Scott down the seam and to rookie receiver JP Richardson near the sideline.
Rookie second-round receiver Luther Burden III practiced for the first time, participating in individual drills.
Not too different
With pads on for the first time, the intensity level was ratcheted up a bit. But the mentality of the Bears offensive line didn't change that much.
"I wouldn't say it's too different," said center Drew Dalman. "Obviously there are different things that are allowed in practice; more high-contact drills and things like that. But as far as mindset and mentality, we're coming out to work as hard as we can. Football's a physical game and we plan on being a physical team. That's been part of our DNA this whole time."
It takes time
Entering his first season with the Bears and fifth in the NFL, Dalman realizes that learning a new offense isn't an overnight endeavor.
"It is a process," he said. "I mean, you need hundreds and thousands of reps to be able to master things, and we're doing everything we can to chunk away. And we always focus on, 'Is today better than yesterday?' And, 'Do we understand it a little bit more than we did the last time we ran it?'
"Hoping to have everything perfect right now is going to distract us from the goal of just being a little bit better today than the last time we ran the play."
Dalman continues to develop cohesiveness with Williams.
"Caleb's awesome; great to work with him," Dalman said. "Great to work with the other O-line guys. It's one of those things where every day, something gets better and then you always have new things to patch up and fix and work on, and it's been a pleasure to work on those things."
Information sharing
Bears special teams coordinator Richard Hightower described working with Johnson for the first time as "awesome" and "phenomenal."
"I love picking his brain," Hightower said. "He's picking my brain. We talk about situations, we talk about players, we talk about special teams. He's heavily involved. He's in meetings at times and a lot of times he's in meetings a lot. He's at every drill during special teams, watching every drill, which is impressive.
"I've been on a number of different staffs. I can't say every staff I've been on, all head coaches, they [do] that. But all you have to do is study his path. If you study his path, he's been around top-notch special teams his whole career. He came from a place that had really good special teams [in Detroit]. He was around good special teams when he was in Miami. He intuitively understands the value of field position and of changing games. He understands how important it is for us as a football team. He understands how important it is for the city of Chicago. So he's been phenomenal."
Turning heads
With cornerback Jaylon Johnson still on the non-football injury list, fourth-year pro Nahshon Wright has continued to impress with the No. 1 defense.
The 6-4, 199-pounder is in his first year with the Bears after playing his first four NFL seasons with the Cowboys (2021-23) and Vikings (2024), mostly on special teams.
"He's a tall corner," Brisker said. "I actually like him. He was making plays during OTAs. Nice press corner, tall and lanky. He's just been balling out there, one-on-one on an island. He's made plays; PBUs all over the place. He's very quiet. I told him yesterday he's the tallest DB I've played with. Usually, I'm the tallest in the room, but now he is. He's pretty good. I like him."
Seen and heard
Brisker is an emotional player who is quite vocal on the field. But even he has been impressed with what he's heard from veteran defensive tackle Grady Jarrett.
"The first day, he was talking a lot of stuff to the offensive linemen," Brisker said. "We heard it. I heard it and was like, 'Oh shoot.' I like it, though, I'll say that. He was talking a lot and I definitely heard him say, 'I'm not no rookie, why y'all running over here?' I'm like, 'All right, I like that, let's go!'"
