Day 1 Rookie Camp Observations From the Bears Beat Are Encouraging ...Middle East

Hooray! The first day of the Chicago Bears’ rookie minicamp (2026’s version) is in the books. Reports of a short practice have me thinking the team is prepping with a slow build for its rookies, with the idea of getting folks on board with the basics now and then keeping players fresher for what will hopefully be a season that extends into February.

We’ve got a roundup of observations from the Bears beat on Day 1 of Bears rookie minicamp.

Dillon Thieneman and Malik Muhammad enroll at Al Harris University

#Bears Rookie DBs Dillon Thieneman (1st Rd) and Malik Muhammad (4th Rd) going through drills today at Rookie Minicamp.#TheBIGS #ItsUS pic.twitter.com/aOcmsfplez

All eyes are on the Bears’ secondary at the start of rookie minicamp for obvious reasons. Not only did the team use its first-round pick on Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman, but it also used the first of its Day 3 selections on University of Texas cornerback Malik Muhammad. Thieneman is a virtual lock to be a Week 1 starter. on Chicago’s defense. There has been an expectation that Thieneman would start next to free-agent addition Coby Bryant at safety since the moment the Indiana native was drafted. The same can’t be said for Muhammad, but you don’t have to squint to see his path to a starting role as a rookie.

This quote from Bears Head Coach Ben Johnson (via 104.3 The Score’s Chris Emma) on Defensive Backs Coach Al Harris from this morning still sticks with me:

“For all of our defensive backs, it’s one of the better situations you can ask for. I think the world of Al. We were very fortunate to get him back. He was a great teacher. He was very systematic about the project in which we want to go about our business.

“He’s got some really good building blocks for young players, if they trust him and if they buy into his way of coaching, that they’re going to have success. His track record says that. I think Malik is a very sharp young man, and he’s going to be able to embrace that coaching style with open arms.”

You don’t have to work hard to find yourself in a place where you believe that Al Harris’ coaching methods will yield capable starters in the secondary after development during the offseason training program, minicamps, and training camp.

Harris’ guidance helped cornerback Nahshon Wright turn in a Pro Bowl season. We watched safety Jaquan Brisker have arguably his best all-around season with the team. C.J. Gardner-Johnson came in off the waiver wire and became an immediate contributor. A season that saw Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon miss significant time due to injuries also saw Chicago’s secondary lead the league in interceptions. I look forward to seeing how Harris’ DBs come through with an encore in 2026.

Rookie pass catchers make their first impressions

Top 3 Rookie Minicamp Day 1 Observations:1- Zavion Thomas showed impressive hands catching balls that were thrown behind him. 2- Sam Roush has an NFL body. 3- Malik Muhammad looked sticky in coverage.BONUS: K Gabriel Plascencia looks like a linebacker.

I love that the consensus around Zavion Thomas at Bears rookie minicamp had everything to do with his speed showing up in spades. Sometimes, guys test well and put up eye-popping 40-yard dash times only to not see those numbers translate onto the field. Don’t get me wrong. I know one minicamp practice session isn’t the be-all, end-all. But I still find it encouraging that the impartial eyes in attendance at Day 1 of the team’s minicamp were making note of Thomas’ speed.

The Sam Roush experience should be fun to follow. Roush, a Day 2 pick out of Stanford, has been viewed as a reach by some NFL Draft analysts. However, Chicago’s front office liked him enough to use a Day 2 pick on a player at a position with two standout performers (Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet) firmly entrenched ahead of the rookie on the depth chart. Nevertheless, it is clear that Roush is already picking up what his head coach is putting down.

“I’m just here to compete,” Roush said, via the team’s official website. “Especially as a young guy coming in, your mouth is going to be closed and ears going to be open. I’m coming to listen and absorb as much information as possible. Every day I go out there and compete to the best of my ability.”

Given what Bears Head Coach Ben Johnson said about rookies jumping into the competition during his Friday press conference, I loved the quote from Roush above.

More nuggets from Day 1 of Bears minicamp

First day frames ?️ pic.twitter.com/PODhv8wsKv

Rookie minicamp gives them, as well as the undrafted signees, a chance to grasp the framework of Johnson and Allen’s systems. They’ll likely still be floundering when the veterans arrive for OTAs and minicamp, but the hope is that they’re relatively caught up by the time training camp begins in July.

The Bears’ dependence on this rookie class is reflective of how far they still have to go to become a true contender, despite significant progress last season. The draft usually should be future-focused, but that’s only for teams that are fully built. The Bears aren’t quite at that stage yet, and they’re hoping this class will help them get there.

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