The NFL offseason has fully gotten underway; however, the calendar never slows down. Before long, the end of July will welcome in another training camp for all 32 NFL teams, including the Chicago Bears. This will be the second training camp under head coach Ben Johnson. This promises to be one that helps lay the groundwork for the standards Johnson preached last season. Here is what you need to know.
Chicago Bears Training Camp Dates: What to Know
Of course, as is the norm, the rookies will head to Halas Hall first on July 25th. I would expect to see a couple of veterans also being there to get to know their new teammates and lead by example. Veterans who don’t show up on July 25th must report to Halas Hall on July 28th. Training camp is set to run for three weeks from late July until the middle of August. The Chicago Bears will also be having two joint practice sessions with the Cincinnati Bengals and the Tennessee Titans.
Both of these joint practice sessions will see the Bears travel to both the Bengals’ and Titans’ practice facilities, respectively. The Bengals on August 20th and the Titans on August 27th. While those teams might not inspire much anticipation, considering both teams were picking in the top 10 in this past year’s draft, that isn’t what these practices are scheduled for. These dates are set in advance, along with preseason games, for a ramp-up to the season.
The Bears spent last season in training camp not only installing the new offense that Ben Johnson was bringing over, but also had joint practices with AFC East counterparts in the Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills. Again, the reason why this training camp is more important than the last one is that the Bears should theoretically be ahead of where they were last year. When a coach comes in, especially one that is offensively brilliant like Ben Johnson, it takes a considerable amount of time, especially in minicamp and training camp, to iron out the details, and it might take it further into the season.
If you don’t believe me, everything points to that being the case. Bears were struggling with penalties, especially false starts and other small issues that were plaguing them throughout the early part of the season. It was also by design that the rookies like Colston Loveland and Luther Burden were brought along more slowly before Ben got them more involved right around the Bengals game in week nine. Caleb Williams admitted that there was a struggle before comfort set in.
Now the Bears can officially settle in and work on more stuff now that most of the players have gotten a taste of it. Montez Sweat recently came out and said that he heard the chatter from fans on the Bears’ lack of defensive line moves. It is something that had fans wondering what exactly the plan is there.
There is a lot of skepticism about what the Bears are gonna be for this upcoming season. I, too, am a bit concerned about it, but I do like the foundation the Chicago Bears have built on the offensive side. It is the defensive side that has a lot more questions and concerns. Rightfully so, but there are things that you can look at to make you feel better about them.
Improvement is necessary in the NFL along with roster turnover. The standards, though, must remain the same from year to year. It only helps that success comes along with that. Ben Johnson’s first year was by all measures a success, but time never rests for anyone. Can he build off of that? What kind of year will third-year signal-caller Caleb Williams have?
It all starts somewhere, and that somewhere is at the end of July.
Main Image: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images
