Chicago Bears training camp: Standout players from the first week of practices

Chicago Bears training camp: What to watch for in today's first practice

FOX 32's Lou Canellis breaks down what to watch as the Bears hit the field, from coach Ben Johnson?s expectations to what the team hopes to see from Caleb Williams in his second season.

The Chicago Bears have finished their first week of training camp.

While the focus was directed on the struggling offense, there were some individual players who stood out across the different drills and situations.

Here are a few players who stood out during the first week of training camp practices.

Tyrique Stevenson:

One of the questions about the Bears this season was how Stevenson would acclimate to Dennis Allen's press-man defense. Through the first week, the two have looked like a solid match.

Stevenson has been aggressive all week. He's been deflecting passes and undercutting routes, showing that he's got the aggressive style of play that fits what Allen is looking for. This has rung true for other corners, like Terell Smith and Nashon Wright who have both been solid, but Stevenson isn't overaggressive and is showing the press-man scheme fits his skill set well.

There were questions about whether Stevenson could move past a trying 2024 sophomore season, but so far he's risen to the challenges Allen has issued for the entire defense.

Kyle Monangai:

The Bears' seventh-round selection was the only addition to the running back room this offseason, and so far he's giving the Bears scouting staff reasons to pat themselves on the back.

The rookie out of Rutgers hasn't been changing the game, but he's been consistently good. He had a big run at the end of Thursday's practice and he had a chance to run with the first-team offense at times.

He's also caught the eyes of some of the veteran players, earning some high praise. 

"He don't really lack anything from what I'm seeing," Bears running back D'Andre Swift said. "Real confident in his style of play. Real low to the ground. Great catching the ball out of the back field. Solid, real solid."

JP Richardson:

There needs to be that guy to rally behind: a Dane Sanzenbacher, Tanner Gentry or Daniel Braverman. Welcome to the JP Richardson show.

Richardson has made athletic, acrobatic and diving catches in mandatory minicamp and OTAs. It's caught the eye of plenty of writers, as well as the coaches.

What's impressed the coaches, though, is Richardson's understanding of how to put it all together.

"JP is a guy that has come in here and been very intentional about learning the playbook," Bears offensive coordinator Declan Doyle said. "The first thing is always if you know what to do. At that point in time, you unlock your ability to show off your ability. He's done a really good job of coming in and learning it. He’s an athletic guy. He has a little bit of a twitch to him in the route tree. Through the first three days, it's been fun to see."

Dominique Robinson:

One of Ben Johnson's standouts from mandatory minicamp and OTAs, Robinson has continued that into training camp.

He had a fantastic sequence on Day 3, where he recorded a sack and followed that up with a tackle for loss on the very next play.

There's plenty of discussion about what the Bears should do about depth at edge rusher. If Robinson continues to show improvement and production as an edge, then it could answer the Bears' depth questions before the preseason games even begin.

Caleb Williams:

There wasn't much going well for the offense at all in the early days of camp. But, after just a few days, the Bears' quarterback showed how far he's come in Johnson's scheme.

He didn't have a turnover on Saturday, and he continues to look comfortable in the two-minute drills the coaching staff has him lead. The key for him now is to work on the set plays that Johnson has where Williams knows what to look for pre-snap and adjust within the playclock.

Once he gets the structured part of the offense down, it's fair to expect more from Williams as camp goes on.

"At some point this thing will start slowing down and he's going to be able to catch up and his physical ability will take over from there," Johnson said. "But right now, because mentally it is what it is, he's playing a little bit slower than what he's capable of."