Bear Digest

Chief Chicago Bears Areas of Focus for OTA Workouts

The Bears are about to come out from behind closed doors for their Thursday OTA workout and here's where the focus could go.

Gene Chamberlain

Matt Eberflus gets to see his veterans mixing with the rookies now and the media gets to see it on Thursday, as well.
Matt Eberflus gets to see his veterans mixing with the rookies now and the media gets to see it on Thursday, as well. / David Banks-USA TODAY Sports
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Although the Bears have been holding organized team activities this week, it's been entirely behind closed doors.

The first look at what they're doing and who is playing where comes Thursday. They'll open it up again May 31 and then during the full mandatory minicamp June 4-6. Their original schedule release didn't have an OTA slated for after minicamp, and even the NFL media schedule displayed regularly by NFL.com doesn't list it, but they also have voluntary OTAs slated for the week after minicamp and allow reporters in June 12.

Besides actual non-contact team scrimmaging and other work done on field, there are issues to explore at these workouts.

Here are the top five areas where attention will be centerd at Bears OTAs.

5. Usung Heroes

Does anyone rise from nowhere? Already Bears linebacker coach Dave Borgonzi was singing praises of undrafted rookie linebacker Carl Lee.

"Carl’s super athletic," Borgonzi said. "He’s got quickness. He’s got instincts. Really can’t hit right now. Just watching his college film, he’s physical. In college he played a lot of different spots. He played safety, he played linebacker, he played off the edge as a rusher, so he’s got some versatility in his game."

A few years ago it was Jack Sanborn making a similar impression en route to a roster and then starting spot.

4. The Open Battles

Training camp is too late to wait in order to show you deserve the roster spot or starting spot. Now it begins in OTAs. These all start now.

  • Ryan Bates vs. Coleman Shelton at center.
  • D'Andre Swift vs. Khalil Herbert vs. Roschon Johnson at running back.
  • The third/fourth tight end scrum.
  • Backup safety cage match -- Elijah Hicks, Jonathan Owens, Tarvarius Moore, Adrian Colbert, Quindell Johnson and undrafted rookie no-names are among those vying for two or three remaining safety spots.
  • Punt returner (again)
  • Backup quarterback. Undrafted Austin Reed comes in with credential some could regard as superior to what Tyson Bagent's were last year. Brett Rypien has more overall experience than any of the three hoping to be the backup. But Bagent had four starts and five games finished last year, which is a big chunk of playing time for an undrafted rookie QB.

3. Rookie and Veteran Mix

The Bears have the most critical one of these to study. How is rookie QB Caleb Williams working with his veteran wide receivers, tight ends and backs?

Are they building the basis of solid passing connection?

2. Shane Waldron's Offense

What does it actually look like in application? No one has seen it in its Chicago Bears form. It's probably not going to look exactly the same as what Waldron ran in Seattle. Besides different personnel, offensive coordiantors and their staff tinker with the way it operates. They could update aspects of it

1) Who's Missing and Why

The big question might be whether Keenan Allen participates. He doesn't have a contract for 2025. Sometimes players who want an extension avoid the on-field voluntary work. When you're joining a new team with a new quarterback and new offense, it's not advisable to miss much offseason work, though. Allen already was participating on the field a week after rookie camp as the Bears are allowed during their conditioning work to throw "against air," as they call it, without a defender involved.

More likely to affect the Bears is who is not participating due to injuries.

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Are there any lingering injury situations. It's possible Rome Odunze would miss some offseason practice time because of the hamstring tightness he had a rookie camp. Rookie tackle Kiran Amegadjie is going to be away rehabbing a college injury, the Bears already announced.

Anyone else? Cole Kmet broke his right forearm against the Packers in the season finale. Is he good to go?

At the end of 2022 linebacker Jack Sanborn went on season-ending injured reserve with three weeks left due to an ankle injury and the Bears said he could have returned that season if there was more time left. When OTAs and minicamp camp around, Sanborn still wasn't working with the team.

Do the Bears have any holdover injury situations like this again?

Another one similar to this last year was Darnell Mooney, who wasn't full go until training camp.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.