6 takeaways from Day 1 of Chicago Bears minicamp

The Chicago Bears were back at Halas Hall for the final phase of their offseason program with mandatory minicamp on Tuesday, where they conducted the first of three practices this week.

The Bears were in mid-training camp form amid humid weather conditions that are expected to continue for the duration of minicamp. It's good practice for the summer. Overall, the day belonged to the defense, where cornerback Jaylon Johnson and defensive end Montez Sweat made their presence known, but the offense still made plays.

Let's recap what went down during the first day of Bears minicamp. From Jaylon Johnson returning to form to newcomers making plays to injury updates, here's what we learned from Tuesday's practice.

Perhaps the most important takeaway of this three-day minicamp is not to get too concerned with what's happening during these non-padded practices in June. Case in point, Tuesday's session was all defense and therefore a rough go for quarterback Caleb Williams , according to Clay Harbor , who had a "tougher" but "not terrible" day. Williams "made some nice throws" but also missed Colston Loveland for a "potential explosive" play.

Williams also threw two interceptions (both to cornerback Jaylon Johnson). According to Zack Pearson , one of those came during the two-minute drill on what appeared to be a miscommunication with free-agent addition Kalif Raymond , who admitted he's still getting used to this new Ben Johnson offense. Just another reason not to overreact to practices when game action is still months away.

The consensus from Tuesday's practice was that cornerback Jaylon Johnson was the best player on the field, according to Adam Jahns . Gordon was part of a defense that dominated the afternoon, and he had two interceptions of quarterback Caleb Williams during team drills. According to Mark Carman , Johnson was "right there covering Burden" and Clay Harbor added that Johnson "covered well throughout." That's certainly an encouraging sign from the former Pro Bowler that he's healthy and gearing up for a return to form in 2026.

The Bears have no shortage of weapons who are making waves during the offseason program, including last year's rookie standouts Colston Loveland and Luther Burden III . But there are a pair of newcomers in veteran Kalif Raymond and rookie Zavion Thomas who flashed during Tuesday's practice.

Before Tuesday's session, head coach Ben Johnson sang Raymond's praises, and he proceeded to impress on the field. According to Mark Carman, Raymond "flashed all over the field." Clay Harbor added that Raymond made a lot of plays. "Quick in and out of breaks, great burst, and put (rookie Dillon) Thieneman in a blender once." The only mark against him was an apparent miscommunication with quarterback Caleb Williams during the two-minute drill, which resulted in one of Jaylon Johnson's two interceptions on the afternoon.