CHICAGO (WGN) — Ben Johnson hinted at what Tuesday was going to be like. By practice’s end, the Chicago Bears endured what onlookers said was their most physical training camp practice since Lovie Smith was the man in charge.
“It’ll be a good, physical practice,” Johnson said in his opening statement before practice began. “I know we toned it down a little bit for our guys yesterday. Get their legs back underneath of them, then we’ll have a good one here today … This is a big one for us, changing it from morning practice to Noon, and it’ll be a little bit hotter out there.
“Really expecting big things here from our guys.”
What Johnson meant by “big things” was big hits. And a lot of them.
According to ESPN’s Courtney Cronin, at least four separate fights broke out. Tyler Scott and Brisker got into a skirmish with one another. Roschon Johnson slammed Jonathan Owens into the ground. D’Andre Swift and Dayo Odeyingbo got into a shoving match. The Chicago Sun-Times’ Pat Finley said Braxton Jones and Austin Booker got into the most dramatic scuffle, with Gervon Dexter Sr. stepping in and shoving Jones to the turf.
Finley and The Athletic’s Kevin Fishbain both said Tuesday was “the most physical Bears practice I’ve seen.”
“I feel like that’s what we should practice like every day. That’s the message the team shot to us. The coaches, staff and everybody,” Tyrique Stevenson said after practice. “That’s what we need to see out there every day to be champions. Championship defense and championship offense. Moving forward, that’s what we want to see in practice.”
No. 2 corner spot still up for grabs?
Cronin also tweeted out the first unofficial depth chart of Bears training camp.
Stevenson was listed as the No. 2 corner opposite of former All-Pro Jaylon Johnson, but recently-acquired Nahshon Wright has flashed all camp and provided solid competition for Stevenson as Dennis Allen works to assess his best options opposite of Johnson.
“The competition has been great. It’s competition all over the board. Everybody’s position is pretty much up for grabs as they say, because at the end of the day, the best man needs to be on the field to make sure that this team wins,” Stevenson said. “What I’ve been doing is I’ve been coming in, putting in daily deposits every day, meeting with the coaches extra, coming in early, doing anything I have to do to prove to this team and to these coaches that I’m the guy for the other side.”
Wright feels good about his chances too, and Tuesday was one of those instances where he knew he could put himself in a position to stand out from the get-go.
“From the beginning, there’s a switch you turn on,” Wright said. “So, [as] soon as you tell somebody we’re going live, it’s hard to kind of dial back. It just became live practically the whole practice.”
Wright, a 6-foot-4-inch tall corner heading into his fifth NFL season, has a long history working with defensive backs coach Al Harris, which has helped him come in and immediately compete for a roster spot.
“He’s had me since a rookie. He’s taught me everything that I know up until this point,” Wright said. “He’s played the game, and he has played it at a high level. He knows what it looks like. He knows how to coach it—when it looks bad, he knows how to coach it. When it’s going good, he knows how to coach it. For him, there’s never a good rep. There’s something you can do better. He is super nitpicky.”
No major injuries despite all the physicality
The biggest injury note of the day came during goal-line work in 7-on-7s. Cronin said tight end Cole Kmet suffered an injury that led to him leaving the field with head athletic trainer Andre Tucker afterward.
Although the Bears did not provide a specific update on Kmet’s injury, CHGO’s Adam Hoge said it sounds like the Notre Dame alum avoided serious injury during the drill.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
