The Chicago Bears have a lot of new faces on the defensive side of the ball expected to make their Bears debut on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers to kick off the regular season.

Players such as rookies Dillon Thieneman, Malik Muhammad II, and Jordan van den Berg will all be under the spotlight in their first ever NFL regular season game. And I’ll have my eyes on new linebacker Devin Bush as well to see what he can bring to the second level of defensive coordinator Dennis Allen’s unit.

The one name that continues to be overlooked for this defense going into Week 1 is another newcomer who is expected to play a critical role for this defense in safety Xavier Woods.

Xavier Woods was not the player the Bears expected to start against the Panthers in Week 1

Xavier Woods is not the safety the Bears expected to roll out with the starting lineup in Week 1 prior to training camp. The Bears made a strong effort to revamp the safety position this offseason after letting Kevin Byard III and Jaquan Brisker walk out of the door and the main piece of that overhaul was expected to be Coby Bryant, whom the Bears invested heavily in to bring in during free agency.

Early in camp, Bryant suffered a knee injury that will force him to miss the majority (if not all) of the 2026 regular season. It was a brutal loss for this defense and left a significant void in the secondary.

“Somebody with veteran experience is important to have in the backend,” Dennis Allen said. “We lost some of that last year with Byard and Brisker out of the building and then obviously with Coby’s injury. Having another veteran presence back there was important.”

And so, the Bears went out and signed veteran safety Xavier Woods, who quickly took to the starting role alongside the team’s first-round rookie at the safety position. And experience was a big factor that led the Bears toward bringing him in.

“You see a guy that’s played a lot of NFL football,” Allen added. “You see a guy that can see things on tape and then recognize them when they show up on the football field. That’s the difference between the young player and the veteran player.”

Xavier Woods could make a huge difference against the Panthers in Week 1

Everyone is excited to see Thieneman made his Bears’ debut, and for good reason after seeing his closing ability during the preseason and his strong end to training camp. To me, I’m more interested to see the impact Woods can bring.

Beyond his 121 games of starting experience, Woods also has a knack for finding the football and making plays, something that will fit in well with Al Harris’ coaching. Woods has 15 career interceptions, 50 career pass deflections and five forced fumbles.

For a unit that incentivizes taking away the football, Woods could quietly make a strong impact in this game. He’s also going up against a team and quarterback he knows very well in Bryce Young after playing three seasons with the Panthers from 2022-2024.

“I have a tremendous amount of respect and love for (Xavier),” Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero said. “It was certainly a huge pleasure to coach him those two years he was here with us. He’s very intelligent, he’s not going to be the loudest and most vocal guy, but on the field he is very communicative. He’s very smart and he’s got a lot of experience. He has always gotten the football, he’s going to go find a way to get the ball. I think that’s a great duo for the Bears, and Mr. Thieneman has he comes into the league to have a partner that can help him grow. Lot of love for Xavier.”

The one important thing to watch out for later today, Woods did pop up on the injury report after being limited in Wednesday’s practice with a groin injury. Hopefully it’s not too serious, but if it is, Cam Lewis or Elijah Hicks would be the next man up.