Ben Johnson turns up the heat on the Chicago Bears left tackle battle as padded practices begin at training camp
The Chicago Bears have another left tackle battle on their hands at training camp and the competition is set to ramp up this week with pads coming on starting Monday.
The Chicago Bears wrapped up their first day of padded practice at training camp on Monday, and head coach Ben Johnson made it clear this is when real evaluation starts for the battles in the trenches. No position battle carries more weight than the one at left tackle, where three players are primarily competing for the starting job.
Chicago rotated Braxton Jones, Kiran Amegadjie, and Jedrick Wills Jr. at the left tackle spot throughout the first week of camp. Johnson said Monday he doesn’t expect this to be a quick decision. He actually wants it to be a tough decision because all three players are battling at such a high level. With the pads now on the Bears can really start to see this competition take shape and Johnson explained what he’s looking to see.
“It’s consistency for me,” Johnson said. “We’re judging the ability to block these defensive ends one-on-one, and then the ability to cut off on the back side of our wide zone scheme is huge for us. There’s things in and out. I think each one of those guys is probably a little bit stronger in certain areas than the other guy. When we look at it, who’s the most consistent player that we think is going to help us on a weekly basis?”
Braxton Jones continues to look like the lead option in the early stages of this battle
Braxton Jones took the majority of first-team reps on Monday, continuing the trend from the first two days of camp on Wednesday and Thursday. The Bears are high on Jones and his return to form after dealing with injuries the last two seasons.
He’s admitted he’s feeling like a brand new man back on a one-year contract, healthy both mentally and physically, and far more confident in his abilities. Chicago believes he can show more progress and promise than anything he’s shown in his first four years.
“Oh, night and day,” Jones said when asked about the difference. “Last year, I mentally wanted to be there, but I physically was not. That [mental] battle, a lot of people would never understand. I’m so blessed for that battle and I just thank God, genuinely, for showing me his light. I didn’t understand it at the time and the things I had to go through then, but it was definitely a lot tougher. I’m just so blessed to be on the side of health right now and to be able to fully move in a capacity over 90, 95 percent and before it was nothing close to that.”
Jedrick Wills Jr. gets his chance to prove himself
The second name to watch over the next few weeks is Wills, a former first-round pick of the Cleveland Browns. This is a reclamation project for the Bears. Wills was a powerful lineman during his time at Alabama and in Cleveland, but knee injuries forced him to take a year off in 2025 to get healthy, and get right again. It’s time to show what he can do.
“He was a very powerful player,” Johnson said of Wills on Monday. “And so it’s hard to say that yet. Hopefully, we’ll see over the course of the next few days, next couple weeks if that continues to be the case. He hasn’t played football in a while, so you’re a little bit like where’s the confidence level at?”
The Bears took a low-risk flyer on Wills to see what he can add to the room, and padded practices starting this represent the ideal environment for a physical player to really start to prove himself. Wills took first-team reps on Saturday and was back with the third-team on Monday.
Don’t forget about Kiran Amegadjie
And then there’s Amegadjie, the former third-round pick, who is very much in this conversation. Amegadjie rotated in with the first-team offense on Friday and spent the majority of that day taking starter reps. He did get beat by edge rusher Austin Booker on one bad rep but continued to stay with the ones.
One rough practice won’t ruin a player’s chances in this competition and Amegadjie was back working with the second-team on Monday. Johnson emphasized the coaching staff plans to take their time evaluating this battle and let it play out organically, so don’t write off Amegadjie because he could still build some momentum for himself.
“Kiran was a guy that I really really feel great about,” Terron Armstead said on ESPN Chicago, who worked with multiple Bears tackles this offseason. “I feel great about him. Very talented, strong, tough, long arms, can stop power. He’s just been injured – and that’s a part of the game, that’s a part of the story. I see he’s had a series of injuries and people are kind of writing him off – so what. He is talented. He has to be available, which you control what you can control, but the pieces are there.”
