The Chicago Bears are finally back at Halas Hall for the start of training camp, which is gearing up to be another exciting summer as Chicago looks to build on their success from last season.
Considering this was a light practice that lasted roughly an hour and 15 minutes, there wasn't a whole lot to break down from Wednesday. But there were still some notable headlines to come out of the session and some early standout players to monitor as the summer progresses.
Here's what we learned from the first practice of training camp, which included updates at position battles at nickel cornerback, left tackle and center, as well as some special teams fun at punt returner.
Nickel cornerback battle update
There's shaping up to be plenty of competition during training camp, including
at nickel cornerback with Kyler Gordon sidelined with a calf injury to start the summer. Gordon has lost the trust of the coaching staff, which he'll have to earn back. But it's also opened the door to an unexpected competition in the slot.
With Gordon sidelined, Chicago rotated several players at nickel during Wednesday's practice, where it was Jaylon Jones working with the starters for most of the workout. Josh Blackwell, rookie Malik Muhammad and veteran newcomer Cam Lewis also mixed in at nickel throughout the morning.
"A little bit of a repetitive situation that we've got to get fixed," Poles said Tuesday. "And then when he gets back, he's going to have to earn that trust back and that dependability. Because we've got to put all the guys in a good position to be successful, and the up-and-down moving guys around is really tough. So, he'll have to earn that back when he gets back."
There's no denying that the Bears defense has been better when Gordon is healthy and on the field. There's a reason they paid him as a top nickel when he was extended back in 2025. But when the best ability is availability, Gordon has failed to be a reliable player for this defense amid his struggles with soft tissue injuries.
Braxton Jones worked with 1s at left tackle
For the second consecutive summer, the Bears have a competition for their starting left tackle job. While it appeared Chicago found their guy in rookie Ozzy Trapilo, he's expected to miss most of the 2026 season after suffering a ruptured patellar tendon in a wild-card win over the Packers. That opened the door for former starting left tackle Braxton Jones, who signed a one-year deal to return to the Bears this offseason.
Jones will have to hold off Theo Benedet, former first-round pick Jedrick Wills Jr. and Kiran Amegadjie for the starting job, but the expectation is that the job is Jones' to lose. That certainly appeared to be the case after Jones was working with the first-team offense to kick off training camp on Wednesday, according to Michal Dwojak. Meanwhile, it was Amegadjie working with the second team and Wills following. Benedet worked at right tackle with the second team.
“It’s going to be a great competition,” Poles said Tuesday. “I think we’ve got Braxton at a really good spot, probably the healthiest he’s been since his first year. So he’s going to compete, he’s got a lot of snaps under his belt. Theo’s done a great job. We see what he’s done with his body this offseason and he just continues to get bigger, stronger, faster to understand what we’re trying to do.
“I was really encouraged by Jedrick Wills and his progress that he’s made and he’s put over double-digit lean mass on his body, which is something we were looking forward to as he gets to getting back to what he was. So that whole group — and then Ozzy’s working his tail off. So we got a couple of layers to that and we’ll see how it all plays out – and Kiran (Amegadjie) as well.”
Bears young weapons stood out
There's a lot of hype surrounding Chicago's offense heading into Year 2 under Ben Johnson, and Caleb Williams and his young weapons are a big reason why. Following Wednesday's practice, Clay Harbor came away impressed with Chicago's top three weapons in tight end Colston Loveland and receivers Rome Odunze and Luther Burden III.
Odunze "looked healthy and explosive in individual didn’t see any catches in team" while Loveland "looks bigger running good routes soft natural hands lining up everywhere."
Burden "looked quick and twitchy today. Had a couple very nice routes. One play against Devin Bush in zone spun him around with his release and stem showing great recognition of the coverage" and Harbor said "You can see why Ben Johnson is buying stock in this guy." Added Mark Carman: Burden "got a ton of balls. Inside, outside."
Garrett Bradbury got the start at center
Left tackle isn't the only competition along the offensive line this summer, although the center job might not be as open. Following the surprise retirement of Pro Bowler Drew Dalman, Chicago pivoted by trading for veteran Garrett Bradbury, who played in the Super Bowl for the New England Patriots and previously played with the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC North. But the Bears made a move for the future in the 2026 NFL Draft with the selection of Logan Jones in the second round.
While the expectation is Bradbury will start at center for Chicago in 2026, Ben Johnson made it clear that Jones will have an opportunity to compete for the starting job. So it wasn't a surprise that Bradbury was working with the first-team offense during Wednesday's practice, per Brad Biggs, as Jones worked with the 2s.
Jones will have an opportunity to challenge Bradbury for the job, but the real work won't begin until the pads come on for the first time on Monday.
Dennis Allen's challenge for the defense
Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen brought back his tradition of up-downs to kick off the start of training camp, and every defensive player who practiced did them on Wednesday.
Safety Coby Bryant joked that he was going to tell Allen and tell him that was "pretty easy" before explaining the importance of the drill.
“It’s a mindset thing,” Bryant said. “We’re going to deal with way harder stuff than 40 up-downs.”
Day 1️⃣ for the Bears means UP/DOWNS for D.A. 😤 pic.twitter.com/NprpMQlW9x
— CHGO Bears (@CHGO_Bears) July 29, 2026
Punt returner competition heating up
Another competition brewing this summer comes at punt returner between Kalif Raymond and rookie Zavion Thomas. While Wednesday's practice was on the lighter side, there was some special teams work, and the punt return game stood out.
According to Mark Carman, Thomas "had some swagger catching punts. Flowed to the music. Caught some boomers from Tory. (Taylor), made it look easy."
While Luther Burden III likely won't be factor into the primary punt returner competition, he did have some fun on Wednesday. According to Patrick Finley, the highlight of the first practice was Burden "catching a punt with each arm." Nicholas Moreano noted that Burden caught a punt from the machine and then fielded a punt from Tory Taylor while still holding the first ball.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: 6 takeaways from Day 1 of Chicago Bears training camp
