LAKE FOREST, Ill. — One of the most basic football skills is what Chicago Bears right guard Jonah Jackson has noticed as a sign of major growth from the offense.“I said this the other day, the first week out, just breaking the huddle. Just clean, crisp, cadence, everything,” he said after Wednesday’s practice. “Guys are comfortable with what we’re doing and the scheme and you know the scheme and understanding of things is … the flow of practice has been much easier.”Pre-snap penalties and players not in the right spot, at times, were a focal point in the 2025 offseason. The ability to break the huddle with ease is showing Jackson the progress that comes with another year in Ben Johnson’s offense.Wednesday wasn’t the most productive day for that offense, which stalled in an end-of-half drill, but it wasn’t because of flags. And it’s just one day, 102 days before the opener against the Carolina Panthers.Part of the offense moving more efficiently is the quarterback, and Johnson is seeing that from Caleb Williams on and off the field.“I think he’s wired the right way. He wants to be great,” Johnson said. “When that’s the case, you can coach him hard. We’re showing clips in front of the offensive unit today, and there’s some things from yesterday’s practice that, in my opinion, he can get better at, so you coach him just like you coach all the rest of the guys, and he wants that. He wants to be coached the same.“We meet every single day. That process has gone really, really well. We’re seeing the game through the same lens, which I think is critical for a play caller and a quarterback to be able to do. I’m really, really proud about how he’s gone about this offseason so far.”Player in the spotlight: WR Rome OdunzeOn back-to-back plays in the first set of team drills in Wednesday’s practice, Williams connected with wide receiver Rome Odunze.The routes were smooth. The throws were crisp and accurate. It’s a tiny glimpse of the connection formed when the two were drafted, but one that has yet to take off for several reasons. Odunze was a rookie and battling for targets with DJ Moore and Keenan Allen during the chaos of 2024, and then last year he got off to a hot start before a foot injury derailed his season.“He’s tough, and I think that’s what we all knew when he was coming out of college and certainly that makes you worthy of where he was drafted,” Johnson said. “He’s a team player. He’s going to lay it out on the line every time he gets on the grass, and so I think his teammates appreciate that. His coaching staff certainly appreciates that, and, you know, hopefully we can get him 17-plus games this year and, you know, his career will really take off for that.”Eight weeks into the 2025 season, Odunze ranked No. 19 in the league in receiving yards and averaged 15.3 yards per catch. His five receiving touchdowns tied for eighth.He played in only five more games and added 188 receiving yards and one score.“It was tough, it was tough,” Odunze said Wednesday. “Obviously, I was gearing up for a great season. I felt like I was on track to have that. And injuries are part of the game. Unfortunately, I feel like it affected me more than injuries have in the past. That wasn’t obviously the goal. I have my goals for this season, and the injury kind of prohibited some of those things. But it’s part of the game. You go through that adversity and you’re better for it.”Odunze also had a few critical drops, something that wasn’t a knock on him in college. Wide receivers coach Antwaan Randle El said earlier this month that “those are plays he knows he can make, and let’s make them.”“You go back and you pull that film (from college) and match it up with the plays that he has made in the NFL as it relates to those 50/50 balls or what have you,” Randle El said. “The one thing you get is that the confidence is restored, let’s go do it from that standpoint.”With Moore with the Buffalo Bills, Odunze naturally ascends to the No. 1 option, though that could also wind up being Luther Burden. Either way, the Bears have two talented, young receivers on rookie contracts — that’s a good thing. For Odunze, he’ll have to get used to his “new normal” as he looks to bounce back.“It’s not from a standpoint that I’m always in pain, but the way my foot broke there’s calluses in there that creates a different type of foot structure with those bones — different types of things that kind of shift things around,” he said. “So my new normal was kind of what I am going into. And I don’t think that’s anything that’s going to prohibit me from making plays, but I feel like with the break it’s just like when you tear your ACL, it’s never really back to normal.”Pressing questionHow will the new coaching focus on the pass rush translate when the pads come on?Johnson won’t be able to truly evaluate the line play until training camp, but with an emphasis for defensive coordinator Dennis Allen to go back to the fundamentals, he’s seen coaches and players embrace the work this spring.“I’m really pleased with the teaching progression,” he said. “I’ve been able to sit in some meetings. I love how the coaches are going about their business. I like how the players are responding to it right now. We’re all on the same page. We’re speaking the same language, and that’s always a good starting point.”As part of improving a pass rush that ranked in the bottom third in the league in most categories, Johnson said the get off needs to be better.“We didn’t feel like our get off was very good, so we’re looking to improve that across the board. We feel like if we can, we can improve our get off up front, that that’s going to help apply more pressure to the quarterback,” he said.Last week, veteran defensive tackle Grady Jarrett was asked about the details and basics of finishing the play, to make sure they’re affecting the quarterback once they get through. But to do so, they have to fix the start, he said.“Whether it’s our stance, knowing the mindset and how we’re going to play a certain play, technique,” he said. “And so to get to the basis of our better finish that we need and what everybody is accounting for and looking for, we go back to our basics and getting our start right and then what’s expected from us from a mindset standpoint and physically to get the job done.”Defensive end Montez Sweat was not present at Wednesday’s OTA. Defensive lineman Shemar Turner remains out after tearing an ACL last year. Defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo did return this week — he tore an Achilles last year and was absent last week. The Bears added defensive tackles Neville Gallimore, Kentavius Street and Jordan van den Berg as part of a full-unit effort to increase team speed, but on the edge, they’re counting on Sweat, Odeyingbo and Austin Booker to be more efficient. They’ll start to get a true sense if the new coaching emphasis is working in early August when the padded practices begin.Keep an eye on…Drew Dalman and Joe Thuney were the Bears’ Pro Bowlers last season from the offensive line, but Johnson believes Jackson could have gotten a nod, too. The two were together in Detroit in 2021 when Jackson made that year’s all-star game.“I’ve been with him since he was a rookie,” Johnson said. “I think he’s a tremendous competitor. Brings a physical demeanor up front. And then when you pair him with a guy next to him like Darnell (Wright), you can certainly displace the line of scrimmage and dent that side of the line. I think that came to fruition. Was really proud of him.”In 2024, Jackson appeared in only four games for the Los Angeles Rams. He had not played in a full season since ’21, and after starting 17 games — plus two in the postseason — he enters ’26 as the unsung but integral part of the offensive line.“It was big, just getting confidence back and knowing what I’m able to do and how I can contribute to the team,” he said. “I just want to build off it. I’m still in my prime years. I’ve got some juice left in the tank.”According to ESPN’s pass block win rate metric, Jackson ranked No. 12 among interior linemen.“He’s played a lot of ball,” Johnson said. “He’s played in big games. He’s played at a high level. As far as I’m concerned, he played at a Pro Bowl level last year as well. Certainly didn’t get those accolades, but hopefully another year fully healthy, he’ll get that recognition.”Guard Jonah Jackson enters his second season with the Chicago Bears in 2026. (Mike Dinovo / Imagn Images)Quote of note“It’s actually an honor to have a teammate on the cover of Madden.” – cornerback Tyrique StevensonIt’s one thing to be the player to grace the cover of the iconic video game. It’s another to be his teammate, and those we spoke to Wednesday were pretty in awe of having their quarterback as this year’s Madden cover.“The first Bear and the first teammate I had ever on it, so it’s pretty cool,” Jackson said.Added Odunze, “I loved it. He had a spectacular season, and the cover was dope, his kind of little MJ tribute. I know the Chicagoans are happy to see that one. It was kind of a throwback. It was pretty cool.”Quick hits• Bengals head coach Zac Taylor confirmed this week that they will host the Bears for a joint practice in Cincinnati on Aug. 20, two days before the teams play a preseason game. Johnson confirmed that they’re looking into adding a second joint practice if possible.• The preseason schedule was released Wednesday. The Bears open at home against Cleveland with a noon kickoff on Aug. 15. Their game in Cincinnati is at 6 p.m. CT on Aug. 22 before they close the preseason the following Saturday (Aug. 29) in Nashville with a 5 p.m. kick.• Stevenson has been working with secondary coach Al Harris, as well as talking to offensive coaches, to improve his detail. One specific? How he comes out of his breaks. “Not doing too many steps,” he said. “Receivers are taught, out of the third step, he should be coming out of his break. I have to be a better athlete, so it should be like 2 1/2, or I should be able to match his steps, or something like small like that, to where it could give me a good chance to go pick the ball.”• Sweat and nickel corner Kyler Gordon were among the players absent from Wednesday’s OTA. Linebacker T.J. Edwards and Odeyingbo were present but limited. Mandatory veteran minicamp begins next week.