The Bears kicked off their mandatory minicamp with the first of three non-contact practices Tuesday at Halas Hall. Here are seven things we learned:

(1) Coach Ben Johnson told reporters that he's been seeing gradual improvement throughout the course of the offseason program.

"It's been great," he said. "Six [OTA] practices the previous two weeks and then one here today and you can see growth from each guy, you can see growth from each unit, and it's pretty cool to see it all come together."

While Tuesday's practice was almost identical to the previous OTA workouts, the Bears coach said he may change the structure a bit Wednesday and Thursday.

(2) Johnson has enjoyed working with Cole Kmet, revealing that the veteran tight end's "high intelligence factor" has been "clear from the get-go."

"He's a pro, takes his work seriously, positive energy, great teammate," Johnson said. "You could tell instantly when he was around the other offensive players, the rest of the team, there's an instant respect level. I believe he's been here the longest out of anybody on the roster right now and you can tell that they respect him for that. There's a lot to be said there. He's done things the right way for a long time and so it's been great, not just him learning the offense, but helping others in the process as well."

Kmet excelled in Tuesday's practice, catching multiple passes from quarterback Caleb Williams, most notably in a two-minute drill.

(3) Kmet lauded Johnson for the coach's obsessive attention to detail.

"What sticks out with Ben and his staff and just in general is just how detail-oriented they are," Kmet said. "You can feel that in the meetings, and they're relentless on the details. That's something that may be a little unique from what I've had in the past. Not saying other coaches weren't detailed, but it's like an obsession with the details and you can feel that from him. Whether it's on the field [or] in the meeting room, he brings that with him wherever he's at."

Asked for an example about Johnson focusing on a minute detail, Kmet said: "I mean, you name it. Whether it's Caleb's cadence or how he says a play in the huddle, or with us, alignments and techniques and making the right calls, it's every day and it's relentless."

Kmet experienced the importance that Johnson places on details during an OTA practice two weeks ago, when Johnson stopped the play because the tight end wasn't lined up exactly where he was supposed to be.

"I was probably like a yard [off]," Kmet said with a laugh. "That's just an example of Ben not letting up on those things and making sure everybody's on the details. It's funny on that play … I'm kind of cheating myself out of getting the ball the way I was aligned. So afterwards he's kind of joking like, 'I was trying to get you the [darn] football!'

"It all comes from a good place. I mean, he's not yelling at you because he doesn't like you. He wants things right, and he wants to win, and he knows that's what you have to do, and I think guys have been really receptive to that so far."

Receiver DJ Moore described playing for Johnson as "fun but intense," adding: "A lot of hard work goes into it. You've got to be on your Ps and Qs, and you've got to know the playbook."

(4) With training camp not starting until late July, it's too early to determine what type of roles that Kmet, Moore and others will fill on offense.

"I think what they're trying to do is identify what guys do really well," Kmet said. "So everyone's kind of getting the opportunity to do things throughout the springtime, and I'm sure they'll have a good plan here when we go on break as to what they see guys doing going into the season and then really hitting those reps hard in training camp.

"Obviously, there's only so much you can still do this time of year without pads, but I do think we're getting good work in, and guys are able to show some of the things they can do on tape. And then getting into training camp you obviously want to develop your physicality, and your operation you want to continue to improve, and those are the things that we've been working on now. But I think the main thing, and they've said it, is really honing in on what guys do well and then really excelling with those things come training camp so that we can really launch into the season."

(5) Johnson noted it's also too early to handicap the competition for the starting left tackle position and that no real evaluation will take place until the pads come on in training camp.

Rookie second-round pick Ozzy Trapilo and 2024 third-round selection Kiran Amegadjie have been taking practice reps at left tackle while incumbent Braxton Jones continues to recover from a broken ankle he sustained late last season.

"It's an ongoing process," Johnson said. "Hard to jump to any conclusions just yet, especially at that position, where you really can't be judged until you've got pads on. Both guys are taking turns and they're making the most of their opportunities.

"The cool thing to see is Ozzy, for a guy that's a young player, he's really polished in terms of the mental aspect of the game. We're looking to key up some things, quicken up his steps, his identification process, and Kiran's done a nice job just for the little bit that we've had him as well."

The winner of the competition no doubt will be the individual who does the best job of keeping pass rushers away from the quarterback.

"To me, the No. 1 job of an offensive tackle—doesn't matter right or left—is to pass protect," Johnson said. "You need to be able to block their best pass rusher one-on-one. To me, that's the No. 1 job and everything we can get out of them in the run game will be gravy on top of it. But we've got to find out who the best pass protector is, the most consistent pass protector is, and really that's for all five guys up front."

(6) Johnson is excited to reunite with running back D'Andre Swift, who played his first three NFL seasons with the Lions when Johnson was Detroit's tight ends coach (2020-21), passing game coordinator (2021) and offensive coordinator (2022).

"He is a fierce competitor, and that's what I love about him," Johnson said. "When the lights are bright, you're going to know exactly what you're going to get. If you tell him that you're going to need one yard, four yards, he's going to find a way to put his shoulder down and move the pile and get that done for you."

Swift described Johnson as "one of the smartest football minds I've been around" and praised him for creating a new culture of accountability.

"Just the coaching staff and the energy from top to bottom, if y'all don't feel it, you can see it," Swift said. "If something's not right, there's a whistle and we start over. Nothing is [falling] by the wayside. It's good to have that early on. Everybody buys into what Ben and all the coaches are trying to get us to do. They're very fair and we're trying to do something very special."

(7) The Bears hosted several of their former players at Tuesday's practice.

Alumni in attendance included Ted Albrecht, Jim Althoff, Jerry Azumah, Wendell Davis, Quintin Demps, Chris Draft, Jay Hilgenberg, Ike Hill, Ken Knapczyk, Ray McElroy, Jason McKie, Ahmad Merritt, Anthony Morgan, Ryan Mundy, Brent Novoselsky, Babtunde Oshinowo Jr., Mickey Pruitt, Kaseem Sinceno, Tom Thayer and Jim Thornton.