Training camp is one day away from kicking off for the Chicago Bears and Tuesday turned out to be quite the eventual first day back at Halas Hall. General manager Ryan Poles and head coach Ben Johnson both addressed the media while the rest of the remaining veterans reported back for the start of camp.

Speaking with the media, Poles provided injury updates on the players added to the NFI or PUP list over the weekend including Kyler Gordon, T.J. Edwards, Ozzy Trapilo, Shemar Turner, and others.

Just for housekeeping notes before practice starts tomorrow, the team also announced two more players were added to the NFI/PUP list on Tuesday after veterans reported back.

Chicago Bears add Montez Sweat to the NFI, Elijah Hicks to the PUP ahead of training camp

The Bears added starting defensive end Montez Sweat to the Non Football Illness list and reserve safety Elijah Hicks to the Physically Unable to Perform list on Tuesday not long after hearing from Poles and Johnson at the podium.

Sweat is the big name, but it’s not something to panic over. Poles didn’t mention anything about Sweat during his press conference nor any concerns. NFL insider Ian Rapoport added Sweat should be back soon. Poles did, however, address what Hicks is dealing with.

“Elijah Hicks had some discomfort in his shin,” Poles said. “We got that taken care of. So, that’s going to take a little bit of time. But, he’s on the mend. He’s walking around. We don’t see that as anything major.”

Dayo Odeyingbo was fully cleared for camp and will run with the first-team while Montez Sweat is out

The one important update that wasn’t mentioned on any NFI or PUP list is in regards to defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo. Odeyingbo suffered a torn Achilles during the 2025 regular season and was forced to miss the rest of the season. He was back in action during mandatory minicamp without limitations and will be full go for the start of camp.

“Dayo did a great job with his return to play,” Poles explained. “I think it’s always good if you can get one of the guys that was injured during the season to be in that vet minicamp, at least. The part we don’t talk about enough is getting your confidence back as a football player. He was able to get that phase in and add another five-six weeks in of training so that’s really positive. Obviously, we’ll keep an eye on him as we go. But, really encouraged by not only his work that he put into it but our staff pouring into him to get him right.”

Ideally, Sweat’s placement on the NFI will be short-term and he’ll be cleared to practice sooner than later. In the meantime, Odeyingbo will be operating with the first-team defense alongside Austin Booker off the edge.

“I think the development of all of those guys is going to be really important,” Poles added. “Sweat, I’d like to see him continue to improve and take what he did last year and add to that. We don’t talk about Booker, last offseason he was coming on strong before he had a little bit of an injury there that set him back but he was able to help us down the stretch.”

How those defensive ends look will be an important storyline to watch as camp progresses, especially once pads come on in a few days.