Good morning, Bears fans!
Bears minicamp concluded perfectly on Thursday afternoon with Cairo Santos nailing a 60-yarder and the big boys running routes into summer.
Now it’s time for them all to “get away from the coaches,” as Ben Johnson himself instructed the team. A well-deserved break for a team with big dreams this fall.
Solid newsletter ahead with Caleb outlining those dreams … stick around until the end for a small Bears By 7 update as well.
01 Uniform News
‘Rivalries’ uniforms coming on Christmas
Is the long-awaited Polar Bear look coming to the Bears-Packers game? The two teams will wear their “Rivalries” looks from Nike at Soldier Field. They’ll be unveiled sometime in August.
02 Stadium News
Not as much space in Hammond?
That’s a possibility, reports NBC Chicago’s Paris Schutz, who unearthed a document that calls for a 50-year easement on the two large lake basins on site.
03 NFC North
Vikings QB competition will go into training camp
No big surprise, but it sounds like JJ McCarthy vs. Kyler Murray will go on awhile as Kevin O’Connell wants to see each QB in “a very, very unique and difficult circumstance.” There’s not enough popcorn in Chicago for this one, folks.
9️⃣3️⃣ Days Until The Season Opener
Caleb’s Goals for 2026
(Chicago Bears/YouTube)
Caleb Williams has achieved a lot the past 12 months.
His first double-digit win season. The Bears’ first playoff victory in 15 seasons. The cover of Madden. A Green Bay Packers star citing him as the league’s top player.
The well-earned Iceman nickname.
And yet Williams still realizes this is just the start of something bigger. He hasn’t been shy about setting the Lombardi Trophy as the goal … and perhaps a few of them.
“There’s so much to unlock, there’s so much to get better at” he told reporters at Halas Hall on Thursday. “There’s so much left of ball for me and us.”
Asked what leveling up looks like in 2026, Williams was specific:
Increased completion percentage: We’ve heard this coming out of Halas Hall plenty since the offseason began. And for good reason. If it happens, every other bullet point on this list gets a lot easier to achieve. Caleb completed 58.1 percent of passes in 2025, down from 62.5 a year earlier.
Keep the offense on the field more: See above.
Be the highest-scoring offense in the league: The Bears haven’t done this since 1941, as Bleacher Nation's Luis Medina points out. That was the year Sid Luckman and Co. put up 36 points a game. The 2025 Bears scored 25.9 points a game and ranked ninth in the league. (The Rams were first at 30.5.)
Win as many games as possible: A tad generic, but yes, let’s go with it.
Keep the turnover rate low: Caleb has already done a good job of this throwing 20 touchdowns to six interceptions his rookie season and then going 27-7 in 2025. Considering that he’s professed an admiration for Aaron Rodgers’ game, I’m wondering if he’d like to count all of his interceptions this year on one hand (which Rodgers did five times, including a four-year run from 2018-21).
If you get a chance to watch Williams’ press conference from Thursday, I’d recommend it. You can tell he’s comfortable with where he and the team are at as they head into six weeks of summer break.
He admits that’s in stark contrast to last minicamp, which was his first with Johnson.
At one point this month, Williams turned to running backs coach Eric Studesville, a newcomer, and pointed out the difference.
He “felt like he was drowning and trying to stay alive waiting for a boat to come around” when trying to learn everything Johnson was throwing at the offense.
This year, Williams feels like he and Johnson are at a spot where they can finish each other’s sentences.
“I’m 110 percent in on whatever he says,” Williams said.
“I'm going to play wherever there's 120 by 53 and a third, and it's marked up with white lines and two end zones. I'm okay with whatever. Whatever decision they make is whatever decision they make. I just want some green with my teammates and coaches and another team out there, and fans.”
Bears By 7 update:
2x a week for summer!
If there’s one thing I learned from my previous job, it’s that Bears news does hibernate and it’s always in the period between minicamp and training camp.
With that in mind, I don’t think it does any of us any good for Bears By 7 to go 5x a week for the next month and a half.
Barring big news, I’m going to aim for two strong newsletters a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays while focusing on some structural and business type things to make this first season of the newsletter a success.
I’d love to know what you think of how I’m doing so far. Hit me back with any suggestions (or questions) by hitting reply on this email.
Two ways you can help:
Become a Bears By 7 member! Direct reader support makes the biggest difference right now. I’d like to be at a point where I can afford buying licensed images for the season ahead.
Tell a friend! The word of mouth has been amazing so far. Keep it up!
Big thanks for the support so far and, as always, Bear Down!
200 Ways To Make Money With AI
Turns out, AI is good for more than writing emails and generating LinkedIn posts. This guide is packed with 200+ actionable ways to build income with AI.
Inside you'll discover:
200 curated AI income ideas for beginners and pros alike
Easy-to-start opportunities you can launch this week
Real world applications for today’s top AI tools
AI powered business models built for today’s economy
Creative ways to turn trends into revenue
AI is changing how people work and how people earn, far beyond the simple “write me an email” prompt. Discover the possibilities and download the free guide to start cashing in today.
