Bears allow newest member of the secondary to take time off from training camp for the best reason possible
With the calendar turned over to the month of July, all eyes are set for training camp around the league with players expected to report back to practice later this month.Well, for the most part at least. During training camp, the players who are not in attendance usually creates more news than the players who […]
With the calendar turned over to the month of July, all eyes are set for training camp around the league with players expected to report back to practice later this month.
Well, for the most part at least. During training camp, the players who are not in attendance usually creates more news than the players who actually report back. The Chicago Bears, for example, now know of one player who won't be back for the entirety of camp, but it's not for the reason you might expect.
While most players miss training camp due to contract disagreements or other reasons to be disgruntled with the team, Bears newly signed safety Jonathan Owens will be missing a portion of camp for another reason, and one that was actually approved by the team.
When the veterans report back to Halas Hall on July 19th and start the first day of camp on July 26th, Owens will be in Paris, France viewing the 2024 Summer Olympics. To be specific, Owens will be at the Olympic Games rooting for his wife Simone Biles, who will be competing on the U.S. gymnastics team for the third time in her professional career.
“The Bears are actually granting him a couple days off from training camp, so he’ll be there, yes,” Biles told USA Today. “For just a short little time.”
This will be the first opportunity for Owens to watch Biles perform at a major event since the two have been together after Owens was forced to miss the Tokyo Olympics due to COVID-19 restrictions and the 2023 World Championships due to the on-going NFL regular season. The generous gesture by the Bears coaching staff will be greatly appreciated by the high-profile celebrity couple.
"Anytime we can show up for one another in support, we just get super excited because our schedules don't align that much," Biles added. "So whenever it does, it's really important for the both of us to show up in support."
Since being signed by the Bears earlier this offseason as a free agent, Owens and Biles have already been acclimating to the city of Chicago after viewing a White Sox game in April and have enjoyed being able to spend some time together before their busy schedules started back up.
"It has meant the world to be able to support him," Biles said via ChicagoBears.com. "There's not a lot of time I get to do that because our seasons clash at one point and then it's [his season] and then it's [mine]. So it's actually exciting whenever I get to come out and support [him] because these are memories that you won't get to do forever. So every time I get to support him, any which way, I'm here."
Now, Owens will get the opportunity to support her thanks to his coaches in Chicago. Based on OTAs and minicamp, Owens has already seemingly locked up his spot on the 53-man roster as the third safety on the depth chart, meaning the missed days at training camp shouldn't be too much of a problem by the time he returns to Chicago.
Defensive leader gives Caleb Williams some essential advice after getting early smack talk from 2024 opponents
He’s only going to get more thrown his way.
