The Bears calendar has reached a relative calm before the RPMs rev up for good once Week 1 starts after Labor Day.

Head coach Ben Johson’s race to Week 1 is nearly complete, though no one’s crossing a finish line. Training camp was about building a foundation for the fall, something that has been done well.

Johnson’s attention to detail and demand for physicality has helped establish a new culture around Halas Hall, and competition was key to forming the initial 53-man roster on Tuesday afternoon.

That doesn’t mean every issue has been solved. There are a few questions remaining that need remedies before facing the Vikings. Let’s discuss five hot topics surrounding the Bears heading toward the regular-season opener on Monday night at Soldier Field:

Can Braxton Jones take control at left tackle?

Johnson keeps getting asked about who he has chosen to start at left tackle. He refuses to answer, despite the fact that Braxton Jones has been running exclusively with the first team for weeks now.

“I’m not ready to talk about starters yet,” Johnson said in a Tuesday press conference.

The competition, he says, isn’t over. I don’t think that’s a motivational tactic designed to keep Jones on his toes. All signs point to him starting there for a fourth straight season, with Ozzy Trapilo working exclusively on the right side and Kiran Amegadjie cross-training at guard. Theo Benedet’s still pushing Jones from the second unit, but not surpassing Jones.

The lack of a clear starter is more likely due to the fact Jones hasn’t taken firm grasp of the position. Johnson doesn’t want to give the gig away. He refuses to, in fact, which is a good thing.

While Jones’ preseason pass-rush win rate improved over three games, his 92.9% total isn’t great. It’s a small sample size, it’s also well below his 95.8% career mark, per Pro Football Focus. Jones is still working back from a significant ankle injury, but we’re at a point where he needs to be ready to go. His play provides some lingering doubts. If not, Johnson wouldn’t have said this about the biggest position battle of the summer.

“We’re going to have a starter Week 1, and we’ll go from there,” Johnson said. “I said it a few weeks ago — we feel good about the guys we have in that room. Someone’s going to take the bull by the horns and is going to completely take over. But we’re not afraid to make a change if the performance isn’t where it needs to be. We’ll make that decision going into next week. I’m sure you guys will have a good idea of who our starters will be going into Minnesota. Mentally, I’m not there yet.”

Who’s gonna run the dang ball?

D’Andre Swift will get the lion’s share of carries. The veteran was always expected to, though now it’s mandatory. He’s the only healthy rusher on the active roster, with both Kyle Monangai and Roschon Johnson out for weeks with injury and Travis Homer, primarily a special teams player, on injured reserve.

The Bears could make another roster move and add a back to the active roster, but a waiver claim would’ve been the obvious route. The Bears chose to add two players to help on defense and special teams.

Brittain Brown was waived and then signed to the practice squad after a solid preseason showing. He has some juice and has been productive when given the opportunity. It seems likely that Brown would be the secondary ball carrier if Monangai isn’t back and ramped up in time to formally contribute.

When it comes to Johnson, I honestly have no idea what the organization thinks of him or his possible role. Compliments about him are hard to find, so Monangai’s health especially is something to monitor.

“I have been pleased with Swiftie and everything he has shown over the course of camp,” Johnson said. “And then we’ve got some young guys that maybe don’t have as many skins on the wall but they’re hungry and they’re learning. I feel good about it. I think we’re in a good spot right now. I think the injury part of it, that is the most troubling and concerning part right now is just making sure we have enough depth so that we have a full stable of guys going forward but I have full confidence that Week 1 and really for the whole season we’re going to be just fine there.”

Will offensive pre-snap issues ever stop?

The first-team offense has dealt an eyebrow raising amount of pre-snap penalties throughout the preseason. While that’s a byproduct of learning a new system in the early going, those issues should be largely eliminated at this point in the calendar.

They’re still cropping up at an alarming rate in both practice and games. As recently as Tuesday, the Bears were dealing with false starts and delays causing the offense to re-huddle. Last week they broke the huddle with less than 10 seconds left and quarterback Caleb Williams tried to kill a play and check to another with less than five seconds left. Those things simply can’t happen in the regular season.

The issues might remedy themselves during a regular week, with a smaller menu of play options aimed at a specific opponent, but that’s no guarantee.

Johnson remains confident that pre-snap problems will be held in check moving forward.

“I am disappointed that they’ve lingered on for as long as they have,” Johnson said. “That’s something that we’ve addressed, we’ve talked about. Do I think it’s going to be a recurring theme over the course of the season? I don’t. We have a plan in place for how we can help eliminate these things and we’ll go with that going forward.”

What should Bears do with Luther Burden?

This question wasn’t asked because the No. 39 overall draft pick has struggled. Burden has been really good, as a matter of fact, over the past several weeks. He still can’t crack the first team, not with Olamide Zaccheaus playing as well as anyone on the roster, regardless of position.

He has earned a role as the primary slot receiver, and had established strong chemistry with Williams. Burden deserves some targets, too, even in a pass-catcher corps loaded with talent. It’ll be on Johnson to design plays to unlock the Missouri product, who is excellent gaining yards after the catch. Nearly half of his receiving yards have come after the catch, suggesting he can be an explosive playmaker.

He needs to be part of the game plan starting in Week 1, even if it’s in a relatively minor role. Johnson will work him in and provide an opportunity to earn a larger role, though it shouldn’t come at Zaccheaus’ expense.

Will Jaylon Johnson be ready Week 1 and what’s next if he isn’t?

Jaylon Johnson didn’t practice even once during the preseason. He spent all of training camp on the non-football injury list dealing with a hamstring issue suffered in private training.

The Bears hoped that Jaylon Johnson would be ready to play the Vikings and All-Pro receiver Justin Jefferson in Week 1. That’s no guarantee. Ben Johnson was cautious in his outlook for the star cornerback. The team also implements a ramp-up period for everyone, and it will take Jaylon Johnson some time to get back in true football shape.

“We’re doing as much as we can to make sure that conditioning is where it needs to be, but at the same time there really is no substitute for putting on pads and playing the game at full speed,” Ben Johnson said. “Each guy’s different, particularly guys that have had success in this league for a number of years. They’re a little bit different than maybe a rookie that you don’t know as much about. He does get a little benefit of the doubt because he’s played this game at a high level. At the same time, I don’t think there’s any substitute for being able to be about there and go through the process.”

If Jaylon Johnson’s unavailable, expect the same lineup we’ve seen throughout camp. That includes Tyrique Stevenson and Nashon Wright as starting outside cornerback, with Kyle Gordon in the slot. Gordon is capable or playing inside and out, but that’s highly unlikely in Week 1 considering the Bears never tried it in camp.

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