4️⃣6️⃣ Days Until the Season Opener!

Good morning, Bears fans!

One of the things I miss most about reporting day at Bourbonnais: Watching a random Bears lineman move an 85-inch flat screen into a 10 × 12 dorm room that will be inhabited by a freshman from Jefferson City in a month’s time.

That’s just not the thing you can come close to replicating in Lake Forest.

— Kevin Kaduk

Bears vets report to camp: Tuesday brought a light day of introductions and meetings for the 54 players who are returning and the 37 new faces. They’ll hit the practice field today for the first time since early June. (Chicago Bears)

Montez Sweat placed on non-football illness list: Reportedly nothing too alarming, but it should keep him out of today’s practice. (Sun-Times)

Jalen Carter becomes highest-paid DT in NFL history: That’s four years and $152 million for the player the Bears allowed the Eagles to move up to select in the 2023 draft. Darnell Wright went one pick later and it would stand to reason his extension is also close, but Ryan Poles said on Tuesday that’s not necessarily the case. (Bleacher Nation)

Kyler Gordon’s ongoing injury issues were the big story on Day 1 of training camp and I probably don’t have to tell any of you at this point to not get too attached to the team’s No. 1 Spidey fan.

Maybe there’s 12 other healthy Kyler Gordons running around the multiverse doing their best Spider-Man impressions … but he doesn’t exist in this one as Gordon starts his second straight training camp on the PUP list.

Bears GM Ryan Poles revealed to reporters on Tuesday there was no timetable for Gordon’s return. The veteran nickel back spent his offseason at the facility trying to get right, but the medical staff’s plan “just hasn’t stuck,” according to Poles.

“Obviously he’s frustrated, we’re frustrated,” Poles said.

Ben Johnson’s comment on the matter was more distant.

“Get healthy,” Johnson said when asked about his message to Gordon.

I can’t remember a Bears coach acting this cold over a player who can’t stay on the field.

But Johnson’s frustration, which is being increasingly mirrored by the fanbase, is born out of two big factors.

The first is Gordon’s talent level. When healthy, he’s one of the league’s top slot corners and a true difference maker on a unit that needs more of them. While Johnson hasn’t seen that on this side of the field, we certainly have.

The second is money. Gordon signed a three-year, $40 million extension in April 2025 that made him the league’s highest-paid slot cornerback. That deal kicks in this season as he logs day after day in the trainer’s room. Not ideal.

The Bears cutting Gordon isn’t on the table with the cap penalties that would come with it, but the possibility he’s not around for Years 2 and 3 is real.

And even if and when he returns this year, Poles said in his press conference that Gordon will have to earn the trust of a coaching staff who has yet to see what got him that extension in the first place.

Neville Gallimore takes Best Dressed on Day 1 …

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