Caleb Williams chasing down long passes down the sidelines, Roschon Johnson throwing a perfect halfback option spiral, tackle Darnell Wright making one-handed catches, Case Keenum making a behind-the-back catch—it was like the last day of school for many of the Bears Thursday so coach Ben Johnson let them have fun.
The offseason work ended for most of the players with the end of minicamp. There is next week's OTAs but it's only for special teams, rookies and younger, unestablished players.
They spent part of the individual drills doing something you might see from some of them if Johnson ran one if his patented trick plays, such as Williams chasing down a deep pass or Johnson's pass. Johnson was a high school quarterback at one point.
"The objectives we set out to achieve, really for the whole offseason program, we felt really good about introducing the scheme, strength and conditioning, just our standard of technique and fundamentals and finish," Johnson said afterward. "That was really encouraging to see over the course of the last nine weeks."
In that period of time, Johnson saw four players step up and catch his attention that he really didn't know much about before coming to Chicago, or who were rookies.
"I'd say defensively, the two guys I would tell you are Dom Robinson—even without the pads on he’s done a great job of consistently speed rush up the field or countering back to the inside.
"He’s done a really nice job there. And of course he’s got some special teams value that he takes a lot of pride in as well."
Robinson played with starters during minicamp with Dayo Odeyingbo among those nursing injuries. Robinson needs to make a statement as he's in his fourth and last year of his rookie contract and has yet to produce much. He was active only six games last year after being in 11 in 2023 and all 17 as a 2022 fifth-round pick.
Then Johnson went to the linebacker group and one of two rookies on his list.
"I thought the player we probably saw the most improvement from when he stepped in to now was Ruben Hyppolite," Johnson said of the fourth-round draft pick from Maryland. "I thought he’s done a nice job learning. He’s swimming a little bit but he’s taking it seriously.
"Coach Richard Smith has done a fantastic job with him over the course of the last few weeks."
Hyppolite was playing weakside linebacker in minicamp, much of it with starters as starter T.J. Edwards is injured and they're also without inside reserve linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga.
"On offense, I would probably single out Joel Wilson. You saw him today with a big catch," Johnson said.
Wilson, an undrafted free agent in 2024 from Central Michigan, was on the practice squad last year and throughout OTAs got time with the backups and even starters at one point. First-round pick Colston Loveland remains sidelined rehabbing from shoulder surgery. Wilson did make the catch of the day during scrimmage, anyway. He hauled one in from Case Keenum along the sidelines for a big gain.
"He’s kinda had one or two of those almost every OTA," Johnson said.
Wilson also caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from Keenum.
“He’s got a little savvy in how he moves. He’s got a nice route feel about him, and I mean, the test will really be when we get going in camp how he holds up in the run game and the pass pro game," Johnson added. "But so far in the running route section of tight end play, I think he’s stood out in a positive light.”
His final player who surprised was at a need position for it.
"And then in the running back room, Kyle Monangai has really stepped up," Johnson said of the seventh-round rookie from Rutgers. "I appreciate the attention to detail and the pride he takes and how quickly he’s picking things up."
Caleb Williams also led a scoring drive in the two-minute drill, throwing it to DJ Moore for the score from 12 yards out after he hit Cole Kmet for a crucial first down earlier.
It wasn't all fun and games as another time he also rolled out right and threw an interception back across the field to Tyrique Stevenson.
"I’ll have to go back and look at the tape and see exactly what happened but it sure didn’t look like it came off the right way,” Johnson said of the play.
The injury front remained the same. With defensive backs like Kyler Gordon and Terell Smith still out, Josh Blackwell played slot for Gordon and earlier they had Zah Frazier at cornerback, but gave some first-team looks to Nick McCloud.
Still no sign of second-round pick Luther Redmond III, who has a soft tissue injury. Gordon and Smith both were on the field for part of the stretching and then went back into the weight room for more rehab work.
Starting left tackle was manned by Kiran Amegadjie Thursday after rookie Ozzy Trapilo did it on Wednesday.
Johnson was known for trying to get his offensive linemen involved in Detroit as receivers on tackle eligible plays, particularly Dan Skipper. He also had tackle Penei Sewell attempting to throw an option pass against the Bears.
Asked if he saw Wright's one-handed reception on a higher, deep pass during individual drills, Johnson's eyes lit up.
"Oh, I did," he said. "I did. I did."
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