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Chicago Bears Rookie Camp Primer: Staying Healthy Is the No. 1 Goal

The Bears hold on-field work at rookie minicamp Friday and Saturday with four main functions in mind, preserving their health being Job One.
Gene Chamberlain|
Under the watchful eye of former Bears running backs coach Eric Bienemy, 2025 seventh-round pick Kyle Monangai does drill work at rookie minicamp.
Under the watchful eye of former Bears running backs coach Eric Bienemy, 2025 seventh-round pick Kyle Monangai does drill work at rookie minicamp. | David Banks-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

There are four main goals for the Bears as they prepare to open their second rookie minicamp under coach Ben Johnson on Friday and Saturday at Halas Hall.

Rookie camps rarely reveal much about a team because it's draft picks, undrafted free agents, and tryout players—undrafted rookies and sometimes veterans—with a few veteran backups sometimes mixed in for coaches to get a better look. Sometimes they need the extra veteran backups simply to have enough players at a particular position.

There is no contact involved and they're not wearing pads. It's players in shorts or sweats and helmets.

Here's what the Bears need to see from the group they have coming in for the weekend.

1. Good health

Above all else, if they emerge without an injured draft pick then count this as a successful rookie camp.

They didn't achieve this last year, as Luther Burden suffered a hamstring injury and it was serious enough to dog him into and through OTAs. It's terrible when this happens to a rookie at their first minicamp because it invariably sets them back for the start of training camp.

Burden missed out on running routs against veteran NFL defensive backs for the first time at OTAs, and running routs in the Bears' offense just because of a hamstring injury suffered when he landed awkwardly at the end of practice. It meant when he showed up for training camp they had to treat him with caution at the outset after he had fallen behind in OTAS.

It explained why he was such a slow starter in the first month or so of the regular season.

It was the second straight year they had a rookie receiver suffer a rookie camp injury. Rome Odunze wnt through only on practice and then had hamstring tightness. He didn't participate on Saturday, as a result.

Receivers missing any OTA time keeps them from gaining valuable timing work with the quarterback, and against veterans, so getting through rookie camp's two days of practices and making it onto the field at the start of OTAs is critical.

Soft tissue injuries are on thing. Serious injuries are another and greatly dreaded.

Veteran edge rusher Dante Fowler just signed a free agent contract with Seattle and in 2015 he suffered a season-ending torn left ACL at rookie minicamp that not only set him back to start his career but led to some teams greatly curtailing the scope of work done on the field during these camps.

Maybe 325-pound Bears tackle Darnell Wright had the right idea in 2023 as a rookie. After his rookie camp and OTAs, he showed up for the start of training camp in the best shape of his life because he'd mistakenly been doing the off-season workout program trainers designed for wide receivers.

2. Indoctrination

It's not like rookies get the full offense and defense on Day 1 of rookie camp and must go on the field and execute it. They're meeting, going over how they'll practice and what types of things coaches want to see in the drill work and execution.

Last year Johnson described it as an indoctrination so rookies know how to practice once they arrive for OTAs.

He met up wit Ozzy Trapilo last year on the night before practices started and it provided good insight into what they'll expect from rookies.

"He's super smart," Johnson said. "I had a meeting last night with him, meeting this morning with him. He's able to apply those concepts right to the field immediately. He's very advanced in that regard. Technique, fundamentals, he takes those seriously."

It showed up later, too, when Trapilo was able to become the starting left tackle during the season.

3. Tryouts

This will serve as a chance to get an actual contract for offseason work for several players in the camp. Some are undrafted rookie free agents who are looking to get a shot, such as former Illinois center and Bears legacy Josh Kreutz. He's the son of Bears former All-Pro center Olin Kreutz. Another is former Abilene Christian, Western Kentucky, and Texas Tech quarterback Maverick McIvor, who bounced around in college football for seven years due largely to injuries early in his career. He is on a tryout basis provided Dallas doesn't sign him first.

4. Departures

Yes, it happens but not very often. After looking at some players they have in on a tryout basis, they might find those players fit better than an undrafted player they already signed to the roster. In 2023, for example, they waived tight end Damin Caffrey, offensive lineman Nick Amoah and defensive back Justin Broiles after rookie camp and signed tight end Stephen Carlson and several others.

The first year of a regime is when more of that goes on, especially the GM's first year. Ryan Poles waived Khalil Mack's brother, Ledarius, and running back Master Teague in a mass cutdown after signing them for rookie camp.

It's all bottom-of-the-roster stuff but that's basically what rookie camp is, except for the seven draft picks the Bears will see for the first time on the field Friday and Saturday.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.

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