LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson’s message for nickel cornerback Kyler Gordon is simple.“Get healthy,” Johnson said Tuesday as players reported to Halas Hall for the start of 2026 training camp.Gordon is beginning camp on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list, continuing a concerning trend of being unavailable. He played in only three games last regular season and had a standout performance in the playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams.The only player who got a shoutout from defensive coordinator Dennis Allen in his introductory news conference a year and a half ago, Gordon’s health has been more of a talking point than his play on the field.The first bit of news that comes from training camps is the PUP list, and we begin our takeaways there — with the first draft pick of the Ryan Poles era.Why Ben Johnson is making it extremely hard on NFL defensesRobert Mays1. No timeline on Gordon, a concern in itselfThe good news from Poles is that Gordon spent the offseason at Halas Hall, working to get himself right as he deals with a calf injury.“I think he gave up a lot this break to stay here and put the time in,” Poles said. “That’s what he did. A little bit of a repetitive situation that we’ve got to get fixed, and then when he gets back, he’s going to have to earn that trust back and that dependability.”The bad news, of course, is that despite that time in the building, Gordon isn’t ready to go, and Poles couldn’t offer any sort of window into when he could return. He said there hasn’t been any disconnect, though, between player and team.“I think the communication in terms of the plan our guys have put together has been on point, but it just hasn’t stuck,” he said. “We’re turning every stone to get that thing right.”Whenever Gordon returns, everyone will be holding their breath. He has three years left on the $40 million extension he signed last year. Frustration has been pretty evident from all sides, but at least Gordon’s decision to stay local seems to have mattered to the higher-ups.“Obviously, he’s frustrated. We’re frustrated,” Poles said. “We just want him back. He helps our football team. We have to move forward with the guys we have, and when he’s ready to go, he’ll be ready to go. Everybody here is putting all their time and effort to get him back right. So that’s where that’s at.”Coaches and GMs are reticent to offer timelines when they don’t actually know, and that’s an unfortunate thing for Gordon’s prognosis. There’s too much unknown for a player who’s critical to this defense — not to mention one taking up a lot of salary-cap space.When practice gets underway on Wednesday, we’ll see Allen’s plan at nickel. Jaylon Jones got some time there in OTAs and minicamp. Josh Blackwell has started at nickel in the past. Newcomer Cam Lewis has slot corner experience. And then there’s rookie Malik Muhammad, who will likely get some chances there, too.“There will be certain players that certainly flash here, and we’ll give them opportunities to run with the ones, you know, while Kyler’s out, and we’ll see where it goes from there,” Johnson said.2. A handful of other injuries, but nothing seriousPoles offered clarity on the rest of the players who are on the PUP list. Veteran linebacker T.J. Edwards injured his right calf training away from the facility, which landed him on the non-football injury list.“We don’t see that as anything major,” Poles said. “Shouldn’t be too long with that.”That had to be a relief to the staff, as linebacker depth is thin. Rookie Keyshaun Elliott is dealing with back discomfort, something Poles said we wouldn’t even notice if we saw the fourth-rounder in the building. Noah Sewell is coming off an Achilles injury and is on the PUP list.Safety Elijah Hicks has a shin injury that will limit him early on.Poles seemed pleased with the progress of 2025 rookies Ozzy Trapilo and Shemar Turner, who both landed on IR last season.“Ozzy is doing a great job,” Poles said. “He’s working his butt off. He looks good. He’s working to get back into being a football player again. And then lastly, Shemar Turner, he’s working to get back as well. He did some really good work this offseason. He’s starting to move around really well.”Defensive end Montez Sweat was placed on the non-football illness list as well, but it’s a short-term illness, and he’s expected back soon.Braxton Jones, right, enters camp as the favorite to protect Caleb Williams’ blind side. (Geoff Stellfox / Getty Images)3. Another year, another left tackle battleHad Trapilo not torn his patellar tendon in the playoff win over the Packers, we’d be discussing what to watch from him in Year 2.Instead, it’s Round 2 for Braxton Jones in the driver’s seat to be the starting left tackle, but it’s a competition Poles is looking forward to.“I think we’ve got Braxton at a really good spot, probably the healthiest he’s been since his first year,” Poles said. “So he’s going to compete; he’s got a lot of snaps under his belt. Theo (Benedet)’s done a great job. We see what he’s done with his body this offseason, and he just continues to get bigger, stronger, faster to understand what we’re trying to do.“I was really encouraged by Jedrick Wills and his progress that he’s made, and he’s put over double-digit lean mass on his body, which is something we were looking forward to as he gets to getting back to what he was.”Poles’ praise for Wills is notable, as we didn’t see the 2020 first-round pick of the Browns all of spring camp, but he clearly will have a shot to win the job. Benedet never played left tackle before getting thrown into it last summer. With a full offseason to train there, he could also play a factor. And there’s also 2024 third-rounder Kiran Amegadjie, who hasn’t been able to stay healthy.Johnson said he has a “better feel” for the options than at this time last year.“I think another year of mentorship under (offensive line coach) Dan Roushar and (assistant offensive line coach) Kyle DeVan is going to do nothing but help all of them play better,” he said.4. A deadline to get Wright extension donePoles hasn’t been coy. He wants to sign right tackle Darnell Wright, his first first-round pick, to an extension.“Darnell’s a guy we want here long term,” he said. “It takes two sides to get things done.”Wright rebounded from an up-and-down training camp to earn second-team AP All-Pro honors last season. Earlier Tuesday, the Eagles gave defensive tackle Jalen Carter — the player selected one spot before Wright — a four-year extension.“At the end of the day, I don’t want any distractions or anything like that, so when it’s time to go play football, we’ll go play football and keep it moving,” Poles said. “But yeah, he’s a guy we would like here for a while.”That signals to everyone that ideally, Wright’s deal will be done before the season opener. The two sides have less than seven weeks to get it done.5. More fuel for the Luther Burden Hype TrainAs if anyone needed more reason to be excited about the second-year receiver, Poles added to it Tuesday.“If there’s a guy that I’m really excited about, it’s Luther Burden just because of how much he’s grown from the day he walked in this building,” Poles said. “I heard he was just texting and calling these quarterbacks, just looking for an arm to throw to him every day of the week.“The guy loves football; he’s passionate about it. He wants to help this team win, and he wants to be the absolute best receiver he can possibly be, and you can feel the fire inside of him, and I’m excited to see that show up.”At this time last year, Burden wasn’t available to practice. He didn’t get a full training camp because of injuries. Following his scintillating final two months on the field, the Bears saw him all spring, and they have a pretty good idea of how high Burden’s ceiling is.