Bears on the Bubble Who Helped Their Roster Chances the Most at Mandatory Minicamp

The Chicago Bears are now in the midst of their break before training camp after the team finished with its three-day mandatory minicamp last week.

Chicago ran its minicamp from June 9-11, and now its time to turn the page to training camp in late July. But before then, we have a long layoff in what will be the quietest part of the offseason calendar.

After compiling all the nuggets from beat writers who were on the ground at practice over the course of the three days at minicamp, we were able to identify three players on the roster bubble who helped their cause to make the cut this summer.

Included in the list are two new Bears and one who has been with the team for multiple years now.

Scotty Miller

Things were pretty quiet for Miller entering mandatory minicamp, and he didn't do much on the first day of the three-day event, either.

But the veteran came alive on Day 2 for a much-needed standout showing after he reeled in a long touchdown pass from quarterback Case Keenum.

Miller followed that up with "another nice day" on Day 3, per ex-Bears tight end Clay Harbor, who also relayed that Miller "had a solid camp" overall.

"He's fast, reliable, and he keeps showing up when the ball comes his way," Harbor added.

The Bears have four locks at receiver in Rome Odunze, Luther Burden, Kalif Raymond and Zavion Thomas, and Jahdae Walker figures to have a great shot to make the cut, also.

That means Miller is probably fighting for the WR5 spot, at best, and more likely the WR6 role, assuming the Bears carry that many. Miller's performance in minicamp will help him, as will the fact he's a veteran in what is a very young wide receivers room.

Jaylon Jones

With both Cam Lewis and Kyler Gordon sidelined due to injury, it was Jones getting reps in the slot with the first-team defense at minicamp.

Jones made plays, also, including multiple pass break-ups over the first two days. One of them saw Jones diagnose a screen pass to Burden before he stepped in front and batted down the pass.

Jones has only played 83 snaps in the slot over four seasons. If he can continue to show he's capable of playing in the slot along with providing depth on the boundary, Jones is going to increase his chances of making the roster out of training camp.

Jayden Loving

An undrafted free-agent signing of the Bears, Loving got a big endorsement from Herb Howard of The Bigs, who noted that Loving "looks like he should be in the NFL."

"This D-tackle, Jayden Loving, an undrafted rookie out of Wake Forest, is built like a house," Howard stated. "He’s kind of short, stout, but he is strong, looked like an immovable object."

"He's got some real good burst and athleticism to him as well," Howard wrote. "Gotta wait 'til the pads come on, but I’ve had my eye on him since the first time I saw him, just because of how he looks. He looks like he should be in the NFL. Kid might make the team, we'll see."

Loving has two traits in particular that are intriguing for the Bears: he's super athletic (9.93 Relative Athletic Score) and he flashed as a run defender the past two years, with Pro Football Focus grades of 81.6 and 83.9 in that area. The latter is especially important considering Chicago struggled against the run in 2025.

Loving has long been one of our favorites to make the roster among UDFAs and Howard's review only strengthened that belief.

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