Boasting great aspirations, Bears know there’s plenty to prove

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — By the start of this anticipated training camp at Halas Hall, Pro Bowl cornerback Jaylon Johnson had already heard all of the noise about his Chicago Bears.
This team is believed to be capable of making a great leap from the bottom of the standings to the playoffs in 2024, set with a budding roster ready to mark progress. The city of Chicago is feeling renewed hope for this new season ahead.
The Bears are that preseason team drawing all the attention. Johnson knows what’s being said about this team.
“I want to be in a position where we actually go out there and we are that, and not just where we’re projected to be,” Johnson said. “It’s about action at this point. I mean, the projections, the energy and enthusiasm all feels good at the beginning. I feel like everybody, every team, every fan, ‘Oh, yeah, this is our year. This is our year.’ I’m not on that type of time as far as this is our year. We got to go out there and prove it.”
The fifth NFL season for Johnson should at least be much different than the first four. Now 25 years old, Johnson signed a four-year, $76-million contract extension this offseason after a breakthrough 2023 campaign.
Johnson was a rookie in 2020 as the Bears’ previous core began to crumble. He saw the general manager who drafted him, Ryan Pace, forced out alongside head coach Matt Nagy in 2021, then embraced the painful days of a rebuilding process over the last two seasons.
This is the best team on which Johnson will play, a roster loaded with talent and designed with great purpose by general manager Ryan Poles.
The Bears boast an offense led by rookie quarterback Caleb Williams that hopes to ignite with playmakers like D’Andre Swift, DJ Moore, Keenan Allen and Cole Kmet. And this defense has stated its aspirations to be a top-five unit in the league.
“I feel like it’s one of those Alabama vs. Georgia type things,” Johnson said. “I mean, you’re going against five-star people every day in practice. When you get to the game and you’re going against, in theory, you’re going against three-stars, it’s a completely different ballgame. That’s when you start dominating other teams. You’re so used to going against dawg after dawg after dawg in practice. When you get to the game, everybody is not a dawg.
“For us on defense having those high-level guys on offense, it’s definitely going to push us because we’re going to go out there on Sundays and either we’re going to play somebody just as good as them or not as good as them. Either way, it’s going to go in our favor. Vice versa for them. There are definitely some elements or some things we can give to them so that when we go out there on Sundays, it’s a breeze.”
Back in January of 2022, Poles was hired to lead the Bears’ football operations forward with the goal of tearing down and starting over. He earned the faith of franchise ownership to lead this ambitious rebuilding process with the promise of lasting success to come.
Poles’ plan has included some important draft picks, key free-agent signings, a bold trade for star pass rusher Montez Sweat and no fortune greater than landing the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft and the rights to select Williams.
The hope is for 2024 to mark the start of a great era for this franchise.
“I just want to continue to improve,” Poles said. “Our goal – I’ve never backed away from it – our goal is always to win the Super Bowl and take the division, and I feel like we’re continuing to get closer and closer to that. So, I’m excited to find out what that ceiling is.”
Poles has nearly overhauled this entire roster through three offseasons as general manager. Just seven players remain with the Bears from the pace regime – including Johnson, who proved his place as a core piece.
A year ago in July, Johnson spoke candidly about his desire to land a long-term contract extension with the Bears while also pointing out he hadn’t earned it just yet. Johnson realized he needed to truly solidify his place as one of the top cornerbacks in the game. He finished the season ranked No. 1 at his position in Pro Football Focus grades, but he felt slighted by earning just second-team All-Pro honors.
Entering this new season of great expectations, Johnson knows there’s more to accomplish.
“I could’ve – I should’ve – been first-team,” Johnson said. “You look at the numbers, look at who was first team, that was definitely something I could’ve got. This year I definitely want to get first team. So, there’s that for me to get. Shoot, there’s winning. Playoffs. Super Bowl. There’s still a lot to prove.”
Work in the cards
Before truly calling the Chicago area home, Caleb Williams and Keenan Allen were living out of a local hotel. They would pass the time watching the NBA playoffs and play card games.
But Williams and Allen would also spend their downtime rehearsing their respective roles in the Bears’ offense. Williams would call out a play and Allen would draw it up, then they would switch roles – Allen calling the play and Williams drawing it.
“I’m not a guy who masters the playbook by any means sitting at home just looking at the playbook,” Allen said. “That’s not how I learn it. I’m a trial-and-error guy. I learn through mistakes.
“Obviously, you’ve got new terminology from college and you’re going to get different coverages, too. Just giving him the knowledge that I was taught being with guys like Philip Rivers, obviously Justin Herbert, and just making sure we’re seeing things the same way.”
Williams had a little more than a month away from team activities following the conclusion of the offseason program. While there was much-needed downtime – this at the culmination of a whirlwind NFL acclimation – the real work was just beginning.
After all, the Bears named Williams as their starting quarterback almost immediately after he was selected with the first overall pick. They weren’t looking to create some unnecessary quarterback battle and make Williams wait behind a stopgap veteran.
This is Williams’ starting job, and he has put forth the effort to own it.
“He did a great job during his time away from the building, owning the offense, understanding different calls and able to come out here these first two practices and operate at a much higher level than we left it,” offensive coordinator Shane Waldron said. “We know it’s not the final product is. But every day we see these incremental improvements leading up to the first game, that’s our goal.”
Acquired by the Bears in March, the six-time Pro Bowl target Allen was tabbed as a key resource for Williams. He’s not only a reliable presence in the passing game but also an important mentor for his growth.
One month before the Bears made their top overall selection, Allen joined Poles, head coach Matt Eberflus and the team’s scouting brass at USC for Williams’ pro day. In April, Williams and Allen began throwing together in Los Angeles.
Williams and Allen have taken their connection from the hotel room to the practice field with hopes of what it can bring on game days.
“Just try to make it easy for him,” Allen said. “Make sure we’re seeing things eye-to eye and get to the spots that he likes, whatever spots that he can see versus what I’m seeing. And then just being on the same page.”
Growth mindset
Montez Sweat arrived last season in a way he hadn’t before. He not only landed in Chicago midseason following a trade from the Commanders to the Bears, but he broke through as one of the NFL’s premier pass rushers.
Sweat posted a career-best 12.5 sacks over 17 games, leading both the Bears and Commanders in that category. He was signed to a four-year, $98.5-million extension in early November to remain in Chicago as a core piece. At the end of this stellar season, Sweat was named to the Pro Bowl for the first time.
For Sweat, last season wasn’t the culmination. It was just the beginning.
“I’ve grown every year and I’m still growing,” Sweat said. “There are certain things in my game that I know I wasn’t doing as a rookie and there are certain things that I’ll be doing this year I wasn’t doing last year. Every year you grow as a player. Experience is probably one of the best tools that you can have as a player.”

Sweat, who turns 28 one day prior to the season opener, was celebrated by the Bears for his impact in bolstering the team’s entire defense. For his part, Sweat credited his teammates with allowing him to perform at a high level.
Eberflus and the Bears see the potential for Sweat to become even better in his first full season with the team.
“It’s about getting that consistent get-off,” Eberflus said. “Because once he does that it’s over. I think when he does that he’s going to be elite and dominant.”
From competition to continuity?
When the Bears lined up their starting offense for the first reps of training camp, it was Ryan Bates snapping the football. One day later, Coleman Shelton stepped in at center with the first-team offense.
The Bears appear serious about forming a true competition at center between the veteran newcomers Bates and Shelton. But it’s not quite clear when they will shift the priority from competing to forming a starting unit.
“The biggest benefit for us as the Bears is we have great competition right there with two really able players that can start in this league,” Waldron said. “Any time we get competitions like that in different positions — there are several going on during camp — you’re going to raise the level of play of those guys, which ultimately raises the level of our team.
“I think it’s paramount to have that, just like it is at every position. When the time is right in terms of guys have established the starting role at each spot, there’s different levels at each position. We’ll make those judgements.”
The Bears dealt a fifth-round pick to the Bills in order to acquire Bates, whom Chicago signed to an offer sheet two years ago. Buffalo matched that agreement and retained his services. Bates, 27, has played all five positions on the offensive line during his five-year career.
Shelton, 28, was the Rams’ starting center for all 17 games last season. He signed a one-year deal to join the Bears in March.
Bates seems to have the upper hand in the battle at center, though his versatility makes him the leading backup at guard – which would then slide Shelton in as the starting center.
Clean bill of health
At the start of training camp, the Bears’ injury report is nearly clean.
Rookie tackle Kiran Amegadjie (quad) is the Bears’ lone player sidelined from practice due to an injury. He is still recovering from surgery last October to repair an injury suffered at Yale. The Bears placed Amegadjie on the non-football injury list. Veteran tight end Gerald Everett (undisclosed) was activated from the NFI list on Sunday.
The Bears are working with tackle Braxton Jones and linebacker T.J. Edwards limited in their work to open training camp. Both players dealt with injuries during the offseason program. The specific injuries were not revealed by the team.
Ramping up
The Bears will hold practices on Monday and Tuesday before their first off day of training camp on Wednesday. They will strap on the full pads late next week and the intensity will rise.
Fans will be in attendance on Tuesday at Halas Hall for the first practice open to the public as part of this training camp. The Bears will hold nine practices open to fans this year.