Chicago Bears' Biggest Winners and Losers From Second Week of OTAs

Chicago Bears OTAs are now in the books. Here's a look at the team's biggest winners and losers following the second and final week.

Chicago Bears tight ends Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet. | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

The Chicago Bears officially wrapped up their OTAs after holding their final three sessions from Tuesday through Thursday, with the Wednesday practice being open to the media.

In case you missed anything that happened at the Bears' second open practice of OTAs on Wednesday, you can check out our breakdown of the most important notes from beat writers on the ground at the session.

Now, the Bears will turn their attention to mandatory minicamp, which will run for three days from June 9-11.

Before that, we're taking one last look back at the team's second week of OTAs by identifying who the biggest winners and losers were.

Winners: The wide receivers

Chicago Bears wide receiver Jahdae Walker. | David Banks-Imagn Images

Zavion Thomas, Luther Burden and Jahdae Walker all received shoutouts from beat reporters this week.

Thomas was once again one of the bigger standouts at OTAs after he was also a standout last week, with the rookie drawing praise from CHGO Bears' Mark Carman.

"Zavion Thomas catch of the day from Tyson Bagent. Impressive hands on out route where he was fighting to get open," Carman wrote.

Meanwhile, former Bears tight end Clay Harbor had great things to say about Thomas, Burden and Walker.

"(Wide receiver) room has real juice," Harbor said. "Luther Burden looks legit, Jahdae Walker flashed, and Zavion Thomas has real quickness."

While there's still a long way to go this offseason, it's great to see Burden, Thomas and Walker shining because the Bears need all three to step up now that DJ Moore is gone.

Loser: Kyler Gordon

Chicago Bears cornerback Kyler Gordon. | Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images

Gordon continues to deal with a soft-tissue injury that kept him out of OTAs last week. Normally we wouldn't make a huge stink about injuries at this time of year, but Gordon is a different situation considering his injury history.

But that wasn't even the worst thing for Gordon this week, as head coach Ben Johnson doesn't sound like he has much trust in his veteran cornerback because of his injury issues.

"We know he's a good player when he's out there but trust level is a huge thing for this team, for this coaching staff, for the locker room and you can only develop that trust by being available," Johnson told reporters on Wednesday.

As the saying goes: "The best ability is availability."

Winners: Dayo Odeyingbo, T.J. Edwards

Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and Chicago Bears linebacker T.J. Edwards. | Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

Odeyingbo (Achilles) and Edwards (fibula) are both coming back from significant injuries suffered in 2025, and both are crucial to the Bears' defense in 2026.

This week, we were looking for any semblance of progress from the duo after neither one was spotted at least week's open OTAs practice. Thankfully, we saw progress from both.

While neither one took part in practice fully, Odeyingbo and Edwards took part in drills, a step up from last week.

That step forward puts both defenders in play to be ready for the start of training camp in late July. We wouldn't write Odeyingbo's name in pen just yet, but Edwards has said he plans on being ready by then.

Loser: Bears reporter

Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson. | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Jay Cohen of the Associated Press found out the hard way what happens when your phone rings during a Ben Johnson presser.

It happened not once but twice to Cohen, and Johnson was not happy to be interrupted.

"Somebody wanna take their phone so I'm not interrupted again," Johnson said with a serious look on his face as he handed the phone to Cohen.

Saw some people - some joking, some serious - pointing at various people on the #Bears beat for this. It was my phone. My apologies all around. Won’t happen again. https://t.co/RMFHfW8bvg

— Jay Cohen (@jcohenap) June 3, 2026

To his credit, Cohen later stepped up and ended the mystery of whose phone it was and promised to do better next time.

Winners: The tight ends

Chicago Bears tight end Sam Roush. | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Clay Harbor was complimentary of the Bears' tight ends, and Sam Roush, Cole Kmet and Colston Loveland in particular.

"(Tight ends) room could be a weapon," he said. "Loveland looks smooth, Roush flashed athleticism, and Kmet is steady as always."

Roush also received some praise from Caleb Williams during his appearance on the New Heights podcast with Jason and Travis Kelce. Williams said Roush is "smooth" and "a freak of nature."

Williams went on to say he has "two absolute dogs" at tight end in Kmet and Loveland, and then he added that he's "got a third one now" in Roush.

Winner: Caleb Williams

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams. | Matt Marton-Imagn Images

Williams followed up a strong showing last week that saw him dial up and connect on multiple deep balls with another standout performance this week.

"Caleb Williams had a solid day. Arm strength looks as good as always. The ball still jumps off his hand," Clay Harbor said.

But Williams' great week was more than just about what happened on the practice field.

It was announced this week that Williams will be on the cover of Madden NFL 27, which makes him the first Bears player in franchise history to grace the cover of the video game.

Now, we just have to hope Williams can avoid the Madden curse.