Where Bears Practices Stand and What's Directly Ahead

Practices later this week at Halas Hall will start to take on a different look, followed by the Aug. 17 start of wearing pads with live hitting

The Bears begin "ramping up" practices this week and actually begin conducting something similar to what past training camps have looked like at times toward the end of this week.

Sandwiched around an off day on Saturday, they'll begin Friday and Sunday to have actual non-contact practices wearing helmets but not pads, like on some days in OTAs or in training camps.

Then, actual padded practices begin Aug. 17. Through the middle of this week, they're only doing walk-throughs and conditioning.

"By the end of the way it is scheduled, the Phase 2 and the walk-throughs, I feel like the guys mentally are gonna have a ton of great mental reps and when we put those pads on for the first time and they start thumping, I think it’s gonna be a really good plan," coach Matt Nagy said.

With only 14 padded workouts allowed from Aug. 17 until the start of the regular season, they'll try to get the most out of their practice periods leading up to the regular season.

Saying they have until Sept. 13 is inaccurate. Players will really only have until Sept. 5 after they start Aug. 17. Sept. 5 is the final cutdown date to reach a 53-man, followed by announcement of an expanded 16-player practice squad.

Fans will start to see more of camp and players at that point because it's Aug. 17 when some select media members will be allowed into practices on a daily basis.

The advantage really rests with veteran players in this process since the inexperienced players haven't had an offseason to learn the offense or the defensive scheme on the field except through the walk-throughs and virtual classes.

"All this walk-through stuff, it's necessary, but it's slow," linebacker Danny Trevathan said. "It's not real football. Football is played fast-paced."

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