These Bears players are in for a rude awakening at training camp

Bear Goggles On · Jul 21, 2026 13:00 · 3 min read

These Bears players are in for a rude awakening at training camp — Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

There are some players on the Chicago Bears that have no idea how brutal training camp is going to be for them when it starts in one week.

Training camp last year for the Chicago Bears was pretty brutal to watch and follow throughout the month.

The Bears were learning a whole new scheme on both sides of the ball, and head coach Ben Johnson was aggressive in his approach. Johnson was not afraid to get into players' faces and tell them how he felt they were doing. He would even kick the starters off the field if they weren't getting the job done.

It may be another long training camp for the Bears with Super Bowl aspirations at the top of their minds. These Bears players might still make the roster, but the coaching staff is not going to make things easy on them, and they have to prove themselves to get back in their good graces.

Chicago Bears players who has a long road ahead at training camp

Kyler Gordon, CB

If there is anyone in training camp who can better win Johnson's heart, it has to be Gordon because right now, the trust is not there. Gordon only played three games last year with a soft-tissue injury and missed all of OTAs with the injury. It's not a great look for an important player in the secondary, so he'd better hope he's healthy enough to play in training camp, or the Bears might have to rethink his future there.

Dayo Odeyingbo, DE

Odeyingbo is at least on Johnson's good side for now since returning to OTAs and practicing, but Bears fans are not too pleased with his first season. Not including the injury, his one sack in eight games did not exactly inspire a fan base to love him right away. This may be more for the fans, but Odeyingbo needs to step up in 2026 and play well.

Shemar Turner, DL

Turner is kind of in the same line as Gordon in that he needs to get back on Johnson's good graces, as he missed significant time with the ACL injury and did not practice during OTAs. The Bears' 2025 second-round pick was supposed to fix their pass rush issues, but the fans have not seen enough of him to know if that's true. His return timeline is unknown, leaving things up in the air and not in a great spot in training camp.

Roschon Johnson, RB

All offseason, every Bears fan, writer, and reporter has been hard on Roschon Johnson and the way he looked last year in limited action. Johnson got replaced by a rookie seventh-round pick, Kyle Monangai, and now might be in jeopardy of losing his spot on the roster. There is a significant amount of pressure on him in training camp, and the Bears coaching staff needs to see more out of him to be convinced to keep him in Chicago.

Braxton Jones, LT

The good thing about Jones compared to the others on this list is that he has actually been praised during the offseason by Johnson and the coaching staff. Jones just hasn't been able to put together a consistent performance over the last year with the team. He is in line to replace Ozzy Trapilo at left tackle, but he'd better come ready because the Bears will push him hard and make sure he earns the job. Otherwise, Theo Benedet and Jedrick Wills Jr. are ready to take it away from him.