LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) 鈥� During a Thursday training camp practice when Caleb Williams had difficulty finding an incompletion, the Chicago Bears also had to face the downside.
As great as their looked to all points on the field during the scrimmage, he threw the passes against their first-team secondary. That’s supposed to be their defensive strength.
The Bears defense struggled mightily much of last year at stopping the run, and staying healthy, but the one thing it could do was intercept passes. Now, a rebuilt secondary might need time to pull together, and it’s questionable whether it actually improved at rushing the passer or stopping the run. It may need another big takeaway year like last season when it picked off 23 passes and recovered 10 fumbles.
鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to live it every day,鈥� defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said about takeaways. 鈥淵ou get the things that you emphasize. So that鈥檚 part of the culture of our defense, that runs through the vein of our defense and we have to practice that way every single day.
鈥淭hat has to be the mindset. That doesn鈥檛 guarantee anything, but if you don鈥檛 have that mindset, then they鈥檙e not coming.鈥�
At the outset of practices, the Bears have two different safeties in veteran Coby Bryant and rookie Dillon Thieneman, and they have shuffled through three or four players at nickel cornerback with Kyler Gordon out because of a calf muscle injury.
Bryant, the former Seattle Seahawks safety, brings speed and another asset to their secondary.
鈥淭he biggest thing I want to do is be known for energy,鈥� Bryant said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 something that I always want to be known for. I feel like it can be contagious and like I said, just bring other guys along with me as well. That鈥檚 something I want to do.鈥�
Even if they do manage to pull together the secondary and challenge last year鈥檚 takeaway totals, they haven鈥檛 improved pass rush personnel. They with top pass rusher Montez Sweat out because of illness, but he quickly recovered in time to practice Thursday. The surprise they鈥檝e had is defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo鈥檚 availability after his season ended with an Achilles tendon tear in early November.
鈥淚t鈥檚 super impressive how hard he鈥檚 fought back to come back and come and be able to start off training camp,鈥� defensive tackle Grady Jarrett said. 鈥淗ad a super tough injury to come back from. Having walked that road before I know the mental toll it does take on you. I鈥檓 super proud of him being back ready for training camp and I鈥檓 excited for the best things to come for him.
鈥淚 mean, he鈥檚 a grinder. He works every day to put his best foot forward. He鈥檚 going to help us. We鈥檙e going to need him back.鈥�
Yet, Odeyingbo had only one sack in his first Bears season before his midseason injury. It鈥檚 why no one would be surprised to see general manager Ryan Poles add a free agent pass rusher or trade for one to complement Sweat and blossoming edge Austin Booker.
Allen says they鈥檒l get better as pass rushers another way.
鈥淢echanics, we鈥檙e looking for pass rush mechanics,鈥� Allen said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to evaluate a lot of stuff when you鈥檙e practicing in underwear. So, we鈥檒l be able to have a better feel of what we got in the run game, what we have in the passing game when we start putting on the pads. That鈥檚 where you really kind of determine what you have.鈥�
In a few days they鈥檒l have pads on and will be looking for tackles Gervon Dexter and Jarrett and linebacker addition Devin Bush to improve a defense ranked 27th stopping the run in 2025. Like Bryant, Bush was a player they brought in as a free agent for one main reason.
鈥淚 think one of the things that we鈥檝e looked at is we鈥檙e trying to improve our team speed, and I think he鈥檚 a guy that can do that for us,鈥� Allen said.
Having cornerback Jaylon Johnson back healthy after an injury-plagued 2025 and the return of T.J. Edwards from a season-ending broken leg later in camp should further improve personnel, but overall problems with personnel on the defensive line and new players in the secondary could persist until proven otherwise.
Thursday鈥檚 problems stopping the pass were an example.
鈥淭he guys that we鈥檝e got on the field right now are super, highly talented, play a lot of good football and are uniquely blessed with lot of speed and the ability to cover guys at another level and also be good rushers to help us up front as well,鈥� Jarrett said. 鈥淚 think we鈥檙e going to be a unit that works really well together.”
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