And the winner is …
Johnson revealed that fourth-year pro Braxton Jones has won the left tackle competition and will start Monday night's season opener against the Vikings.
"He knows what he's doing," Johnson said. "Is it perfect every play? No, it's not. But we did see the execution go up over the course of the last few weeks, so there is a trust level in him knowing what to do. We think he's going to continue to ascend the more reps that he gets."
Jones was battling for the job with Kiran Amegadjie, Theo Benedet and Ozzy Trapilo—all three of whom earned spots on the 53-man roster.
A 2023 fifth-round draft pick out of Southern Utah, Jones started all 17 games at left tackle as a rookie. He remained in that role the past two years, though he missed six games in 2023 and five in 2024 due to injuries.
Jones retains his starting position after recovering from surgery to repair an ankle injury he sustained in the second-to-last game last season.
"I've shown up each week and, coming back from this injury, done everything I can and I'm still getting there, too," Jones said. "As the season goes, you get better each and every week. I'm excited for that as well."
Road to recovery
After missing all of training camp and the preseason with an injury, Pro Bowl cornerback Jaylon Johnson hopes he can suit up Monday night.
"I'm doing everything I can to play," Johnson said Tuesday. "I know I had a good workout this morning. I'm feeling good, probably the best I felt all offseason—well, training camp, per se—but just trying to do everything I can to be back."
Johnson told reporters that he's been sidelined with a groin injury he suffered while working out before training camp.
"I was doing some releases with some receivers," he said. "Honestly, I would say [it was] a freak accident. As far as the injury, [it's the] same movement I've made plenty of times, and had a pretty bad injury in my groin."
The Bears plan to ease Johnson back into action.
"Whenever a guy misses that significant amount of time, you're very cautious in making sure that injury doesn't reoccur again," said Ben Johnson. "I know he's feeling significantly better than he was from the start. We'll see what he looks like moving around and hopefully take it from there. I know he's excited to get back out with his teammates here soon."