LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Ben Johnson let his players have some fun on the last day of Bears mandatory minicamp.

Offensive linemen and quarterbacks were running routes and catching passes. Running backs, receivers and tight ends were throwing them.

Some did well outside their realm of expertise. Others, not so much.

Quarterback Caleb Williams did an excellent job of hauling in a deep shot from Devin Duvernay.

Cole Kmet showed off his arm. And right tackle Darnell Wright had the catch of the day with a spinning one-handed grab.

Did Johnson see it?

“Oh, I did,” Johnson said with a smile. “I did. I did.”

This exercise wasn’t done just for fun. Johnson’s a mad scientist when it comes to offensive play design, and he has used players out of position to generate big plays. He was seeing who can do what, so he knows who can handle such responsibility should he decide to dial up a trick play.

“I let those guys know, we only do this once a year and it’s an evaluation,” Johnson said in a post-practice press conference. “We’ll circle back in training camp and in the season to see who we can trust to catch the ball or throw the ball. I think there’s a couple guys on the O-line that stood out. And then Case Keenum might have made the catch of the day, you know, behind the back about 50 yards down the field. So, I think we’ve got some toys to work with.”

Johnson evaluates Bears offseason program

The Bears have another three-practice stretch of OTAs next week, but the head coach considered them “open,” and stated that they’ll be focused on teaching young players and special-teams work.

That means most established veterans are headed home for a summer break. This week’s minicamp is therefore the end of the Bears full-squad offseason program. That provided opportunity for Johnson to evaluate the totality of work done this spring.

Each position coach gave their players an action plan for the offseason program, and Johnson believes most of those goals were met and a high standard was set.

“The objectives we set out to achieve, really for the whole offseason program, we felt really good about introducing the scheme, strength and conditioning, just our standard of technique and fundamentals and finish,” Johnson said. “That was really encouraging to see over the course of the last nine weeks.”

The Bears introduced most of their playbook during the spring and players worked through learning new schemes. They’ll review it all again in camp, when the intensity rises.

“Each guy knows where they stand right now,” Johnson said. “We’ll really have the competition cranked up once we get back.”

‘Not ready for primetime’

The Bears had some up-and-down moments during this offseason program, with some mistakes that naturally come with learning a new system. It didn’t bother Johnson; in fact, he knew that was going to happen.

There were some examples of that on Thursday, but the mistakes were going to be used to help players learn.

“There was a lot of really, really good teaching tape today. Really good teaching tape,” Johnson said. “And so, we’re not ready for primetime yet. I think that was loud and clear over the last three weeks of play. But that’s to be expected as well. We knew that was going to happen. We’ll look to take advantage of training camp to tighten the screws up and be ready to go Week 1.”

Johnson picks his spring standouts

Johnson was asked on Wednesday to select some unheralded players who stood out this spring. He requested a day to think about it. He came back with four names, including two rookie draft picks, who made their mark during the offseason program.

He chose edge rusher Dominique Robinson, someone often a healthy scratch last year who earned first-team work this spring. Rookie interior linebacker Ruben Hyppolite also received praise for the most improvement since he arrived after the draft. Tight end Joel Wilson was mentioned for consistently making big catches. Seventh-round running back Kyle Monangai got a gold star for his attention to detail and speed in picking up a new scheme.

Practice notes

The Bears performed more situational work during their last minicamp practice, which was shorter when compared to some others. There was plenty of special teams work, with Cairo Santos kicking field goals.

The most notable periods featured team drills with the first and second units. The first unit performed a four-minute offense and a one-minute drill. Caleb Williams ended the first drive well, with a touchdown to DJ Moore. The second wasn’t as fruitful, with it ending on a Tyrique Stevenson interception after Williams ran to his right and then threw across his body and into heavy traffic between the hashes.

Case Keenum ran the second unit well, operating two drives while starting down two scores. He found Joel Wilson on a touchdown pass after working the ball down the field, and then set the offense up for a game-winning field goal as time expired.

Jaylon Johnson and Elijah Hicks missed a second straight day with excused absences. Kyler Gordon and Terell Smith were dressed before practice but didn’t stay out for active practice periods open to the media. T.J. Edwards and Dayo Odeyingbo did individual drills but nothing with the team.

Ben Johnson anticipates getting the “green light” that Colston Loveland can practice at some point in training camp, after the No. 10 overall pick missed the offseason program recovering from shoulder surgery. Johnson wasn’t worried about Loveland or second-round receiver Luther Burden missing several weeks of practice this spring.