![\"Jonah](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/USATSI_27370648-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\nLAKE FOREST, Ill. \u2014 One of the most basic football skills is what Chicago Bears right guard Jonah Jackson has noticed as a sign of major growth from the offense.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said this the other day, the first week out, just breaking the huddle. Just clean, crisp, cadence, everything,\u201d he said after Wednesday\u2019s practice. \u201cGuys are comfortable with what we\u2019re doing and the scheme and you know the scheme and understanding of things is \u2026 the flow of practice has been much easier.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pre-snap penalties and players not in the right spot, at times, were a focal point in the 2025 offseason. The ability to break the huddle with ease is showing Jackson the progress that comes with another year in Ben Johnson\u2019s offense.<\/p>\n
Wednesday wasn\u2019t the most productive day for that offense, which stalled in an end-of-half drill, but it wasn\u2019t because of flags. And it\u2019s just one day, 102 days before the opener against the Carolina Panthers.<\/p>\n
Part of the offense moving more efficiently is the quarterback, and Johnson is seeing that from Caleb Williams on and off the field.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he\u2019s wired the right way. He wants to be great,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWhen that\u2019s the case, you can coach him hard. We\u2019re showing clips in front of the offensive unit today, and there\u2019s some things from yesterday\u2019s practice that, in my opinion, he can get better at, so you coach him just like you coach all the rest of the guys, and he wants that. He wants to be coached the same.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe meet every single day. That process has gone really, really well. We\u2019re seeing the game through the same lens, which I think is critical for a play caller and a quarterback to be able to do. I\u2019m really, really proud about how he\u2019s gone about this offseason so far.\u201d<\/p>\n
Player in the spotlight: WR Rome Odunze<\/p>\n
On back-to-back plays in the first set of team drills in Wednesday\u2019s practice, Williams connected with wide receiver Rome Odunze.<\/p>\n
The routes were smooth. The throws were crisp and accurate. It\u2019s a tiny glimpse of the connection formed when the two were drafted, but one that has yet to take off for several reasons. Odunze was a rookie and battling for targets with DJ Moore and Keenan Allen during the chaos of 2024, and then last year he got off to a hot start before a foot injury derailed his season.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s tough, and I think that\u2019s what we all knew when he was coming out of college and certainly that makes you worthy of where he was drafted,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cHe\u2019s a team player. He\u2019s going to lay it out on the line every time he gets on the grass, and so I think his teammates appreciate that. His coaching staff certainly appreciates that, and, you know, hopefully we can get him 17-plus games this year and, you know, his career will really take off for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eight weeks into the 2025 season, Odunze ranked No. 19 in the league in receiving yards and averaged 15.3 yards per catch. His five receiving touchdowns tied for eighth.<\/p>\n
He played in only five more games and added 188 receiving yards and one score.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was tough, it was tough,\u201d Odunze said Wednesday. \u201cObviously, I was gearing up for a great season. I felt like I was on track to have that. And injuries are part of the game. Unfortunately, I feel like it affected me more than injuries have in the past. That wasn\u2019t obviously the goal. I have my goals for this season, and the injury kind of prohibited some of those things. But it\u2019s part of the game. You go through that adversity and you\u2019re better for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Odunze also had a few critical drops, something that wasn\u2019t a knock on him in college. Wide receivers coach Antwaan Randle El said earlier this month that \u201cthose are plays he knows he can make, and let\u2019s make them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou go back and you pull that film (from college) and match it up with the plays that he has made in the NFL as it relates to those 50\/50 balls or what have you,\u201d Randle El said. \u201cThe one thing you get is that the confidence is restored, let\u2019s go do it from that standpoint.\u201d<\/p>\n
With Moore with the Buffalo Bills, Odunze naturally ascends to the No. 1 option, though that could also wind up being Luther Burden. Either way, the Bears have two talented, young receivers on rookie contracts \u2014 that\u2019s a good thing. For Odunze, he\u2019ll have to get used to his \u201cnew normal\u201d as he looks to bounce back.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not from a standpoint that I\u2019m always in pain, but the way my foot broke there\u2019s calluses in there that creates a different type of foot structure with those bones \u2014 different types of things that kind of shift things around,\u201d he said. \u201cSo my new normal was kind of what I am going into. And I don\u2019t think that\u2019s anything that\u2019s going to prohibit me from making plays, but I feel like with the break it\u2019s just like when you tear your ACL, it\u2019s never really back to normal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pressing question<\/p>\n
How will the new coaching focus on the pass rush translate when the pads come on?<\/p>\n
Johnson won\u2019t be able to truly evaluate the line play until training camp, but with an emphasis for defensive coordinator Dennis Allen to go back to the fundamentals, he\u2019s seen coaches and players embrace the work this spring.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really pleased with the teaching progression,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve been able to sit in some meetings. I love how the coaches are going about their business. I like how the players are responding to it right now. We\u2019re all on the same page. We\u2019re speaking the same language, and that\u2019s always a good starting point.\u201d<\/p>\n
As part of improving a pass rush that ranked in the bottom third in the league in most categories, Johnson said the get off needs to be better.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t feel like our get off was very good, so we\u2019re looking to improve that across the board. We feel like if we can, we can improve our get off up front, that that\u2019s going to help apply more pressure to the quarterback,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Last week, veteran defensive tackle Grady Jarrett was asked about the details and basics of finishing the play, to make sure they\u2019re affecting the quarterback once they get through. But to do so, they have to fix the start, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether it\u2019s our stance, knowing the mindset and how we\u2019re going to play a certain play, technique,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd so to get to the basis of our better finish that we need and what everybody is accounting for and looking for, we go back to our basics and getting our start right and then what\u2019s expected from us from a mindset standpoint and physically to get the job done.\u201d<\/p>\n
Defensive end Montez Sweat was not present at Wednesday\u2019s OTA. Defensive lineman Shemar Turner remains out after tearing an ACL last year. Defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo did return this week \u2014 he tore an Achilles last year and was absent last week. The Bears added defensive tackles Neville Gallimore, Kentavius Street and Jordan van den Berg as part of a full-unit effort to increase team speed, but on the edge, they\u2019re counting on Sweat, Odeyingbo and Austin Booker to be more efficient. They\u2019ll start to get a true sense if the new coaching emphasis is working in early August when the padded practices begin.<\/p>\n
Keep an eye on\u2026<\/p>\n
Drew Dalman and Joe Thuney were the Bears\u2019 Pro Bowlers last season from the offensive line, but Johnson believes Jackson could have gotten a nod, too. The two were together in Detroit in 2021 when Jackson made that year\u2019s all-star game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been with him since he was a rookie,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cI think he\u2019s a tremendous competitor. Brings a physical demeanor up front. And then when you pair him with a guy next to him like Darnell (Wright), you can certainly displace the line of scrimmage and dent that side of the line. I think that came to fruition. Was really proud of him.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2024, Jackson appeared in only four games for the Los Angeles Rams. He had not played in a full season since \u201921, and after starting 17 games \u2014 plus two in the postseason \u2014 he enters \u201926 as the unsung but integral part of the offensive line.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was big, just getting confidence back and knowing what I\u2019m able to do and how I can contribute to the team,\u201d he said. \u201cI just want to build off it. I\u2019m still in my prime years. I\u2019ve got some juice left in the tank.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to ESPN\u2019s pass block win rate metric, Jackson ranked No. 12 among interior linemen.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s played a lot of ball,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cHe\u2019s played in big games. He\u2019s played at a high level. As far as I\u2019m concerned, he played at a Pro Bowl level last year as well. Certainly didn\u2019t get those accolades, but hopefully another year fully healthy, he\u2019ll get that recognition.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n Guard Jonah Jackson enters his second season with the Chicago Bears in 2026. (Mike Dinovo \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n
Quote of note<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s actually an honor to have a teammate on the cover of Madden.\u201d \u2013 cornerback Tyrique Stevenson<\/p>\n
It\u2019s one thing to be the player to grace the cover of the iconic video game. It\u2019s another to be his teammate, and those we spoke to Wednesday were pretty in awe of having their quarterback as this year\u2019s Madden cover.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first Bear and the first teammate I had ever on it, so it\u2019s pretty cool,\u201d Jackson said.<\/p>\n
Added Odunze, \u201cI loved it. He had a spectacular season, and the cover was dope, his kind of little MJ tribute. I know the Chicagoans are happy to see that one. It was kind of a throwback. It was pretty cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
Quick hits<\/p>\n
\u2022 Bengals head coach Zac Taylor confirmed this week that they will host the Bears for a joint practice in Cincinnati on Aug. 20, two days before the teams play a preseason game. Johnson confirmed that they\u2019re looking into adding a second joint practice if possible.<\/p>\n