LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- In less than two weeks, the Chicago Bears will begin their 2026 NFL training camp with a handful of position battles that will ignite the physical brand of practices that have become common under coach Ben Johnson.
While spring workouts provided a peak at how the veteran talent will mesh with plenty of new faces, particularly on defense, late July and August will go a long way in determining the futures of a handful of players coming off injury, those entering contract years and others aiming to win jobs back that they once lost. Here's a look at five Bears players who have the most at stake entering training camp (rookies report July 25 and veterans July 28).
Tyrique Stevenson , CB Stevenson once again faces a competition for the No. 2 cornerback spot in camp.
Fourth-round rookie Malik Muhammad was handpicked by defensive coordinator Dennis Allen and will push Stevenson for the role he had to fight for last season with Nahshon Wright . Pressure like that has drummed up a different level of motivation for Stevenson.
"The young man that reported last year is so totally different than the young man that's reporting this year," Bears cornerbacks coach Al Harris said. "He's focused in, he's locked in." During the spring, Stevenson said he spoke with offensive coaches to get tips on how they would strategize to play against him in coverage.
With so many new faces in the secondary, Stevenson has an opportunity to be a leader on the back end of the defense that will have to replace a significant amount of takeaway production (a league-high 33) that left with players in free agency. He's also entering a contract year with the aim of proving to a defensive staff that did not draft him that he can fit into their long-term plans.
"The best thing I could do is come out here, be available, and be a good teammate, and also go out and do my job," Stevenson said. "And, honestly, that's how I'm looking at it." Kyler Gordon , CB Despite being under contract through the 2028 season, Gordon arguably has more to prove than anyone entering training camp.
The Bears made Gordon the NFL's highest paid nickel corner in April 2025 with a three-year, $40 million contract. He played in only five games last season as one soft tissue injury early in camp led to others in-season and an extended stint on injured reserve.
His availability is under a microscope, particularly after another soft tissue injury cost him the spring offseason program. "We spoke last year and neither one of us were really happy with how it went just from a perspective of being available to get to know each other," Johnson said.
"... This spring was going to be a springboard for us to get going in the right direction.
So, you know, we're still working through that. We're still trying to get that availability piece going.
"We know he's a good player when he's out there, but trust level is a huge thing for this team, for this coaching staff, for the locker room, and you can only develop that trust by being available." Braxton Jones , LT Unlike last offseason, Jones isn't off to a slow start while still rehabbing from an ankle injury. He took all the first-team reps this spring and enters camp in the lead to win the left tackle job, a competition that also features Jedrick Wills Jr .
and Kiran Amegadjie . Neither of those two aforementioned tackles have played at a high level in more than a year, and with 44 career starts, this is Jones' job to lose.
Being benched before halftime in Week 4 last season might have been a good thing as it allowed him the opportunity to reset while learning to trust his surgically repaired ankle. "I just don't think I was at my best with my injury and mentally it can be a lot," Jones said.
"But I'm grateful for that, to be able to look back and see that and realize that I was right there, I just needed to trust what I was in. That's simply all it is.
So going back, looking at that, I'm very grateful that it all happened the way I needed, just because it kind of punched me in the face a little bit too as well and made me wake up a little bit." Jones is back in Chicago on a one-year deal. He's not only playing for a starter's role in 2026 but to force the Bears to consider keeping him around once Ozzy Trapilo returns from his patella tendon injury .
Dayo Odeyingbo , DE The Bears opted against signing a marquee edge rusher in free agency or using premium draft capital on a defensive end, which remains a question mark for a unit tha