LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — Cam Lewis takes pride in being a team player. Whatever the Chicago Bears need from him, he is ready to go.
Right now, that's free safety.
Lewis has been filling in for Coby Bryant since he left practice Monday with an apparent left leg injury. The 29-year-old Lewis signed a two-year contract with Chicago in free agency.
“At first I was just splitting time from nickel and safety and then a little portion at dime as well,” Lewis
said after Thursday's practice. “So trying to learn everything. What happened with Coby a couple of days ago, got told to focus a little more on safety so I’ve just been studying that. It’s been going good.”
Depending on how long Bryant is sidelined, Lewis could take on a more expanded role early in the season. The Bears also are missing nickel back Kyler Gordon, who is on the physically unable to perform list with a calf issue.
Bryant signed a $40 million, three-year contract with Chicago in free agency after helping Seattle to the franchise’s second Super Bowl championship.
“We’re still in information collection phase on that in terms of the timeline and the extent of it,” coach Ben Johnson said of Bryant's injury. “We should have more information here within the next few days.”
Johnson had no update on Gordon.
While Chicago is taking a closer look at its secondary depth, Johnson made it sound as if the team was nearing the end of its training camp competition at left tackle. But that was before Braxton Jones left Thursday's practice with an unspecified issue.
Lewis made his NFL debut with Buffalo in 2020. He played in 17 games each of his last three seasons with the Bills, making a total of 10 starts. He also has played in 11 playoff games for his career.
“I can play safety, I can go out and play nickel, I can play dime if you need me to and go play special teams,” Lewis said. “It’s not about me. I play for the whole team, the whole city and just try to go out there and do my best. That’s the only thing I can do.”
Chicago's opportunistic secondary played a major role in the team's breakout performance last season. The Bears led the NFL with 23 interceptions on their way to an 11-6 record and the franchise's first NFC North title since 2018.
Bryant and Lewis signed with Chicago in March, and the Bears selected safety Dillon Thieneman and cornerback Malik Muhammad in the draft. Safeties Kevin Byard and Jaquan Brisker departed in free agency.
Lewis has been spending more time with Thieneman since Bryant went down.
“It’s still early in camp. Haven’t had a lot of reps with him so far, so still getting adjusted to him,” Lewis said. "He’s a hell of a player; I’m excited for him and to see what he does in his career. But just getting comfortable with each other. Just communication, talking after, when we are doing walkthroughs, seeing what he sees right here, how we can hold different disguises and stuff like that. We have a lot of room to grow, it’s still early but I’m excited about that.”
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