Christian Walker's solo home run (13)
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Salvador Perez's two-run home run (18)
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Bears defense opens training camp by picking on QB Caleb Williams and the offense
LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams fired his first pass of training camp in Wednesday's scrimmage directly to Tremaine Edmunds and the veteran middle linebacker took the interception up the field. This was how coach Ben Johnson's era unfolded on Day 1 of practices. For the other side of the football it was much different as the Bears defense under coordinator Dennis Allen seemed to pick up where they left off in their offseason work, even without injured cornerback Jaylon Johnson. 'I thought today, for the first day out there, was pretty good,' Allen said. 'I thought the retention from what we did in spring to what we saw out there today, I was pleased with what I saw there. And yet we still have a long way to go. We're going to keep working every day, continue to battle, and continue to improve and get this defense better.' Allen has installed a defense along the lines of those he had in New Orleans as head coach and coordinator, with an emphasis on attacking and playing more man-to-man coverage. One key to restoring a defense that dropped last season to 27th in yards allowed will be getting their run defense back to the level they had in 2023 when they led the league. From that end, the addition of defensive tackle Grady Jarrett seems critical. 'His vocal leadership's been awesome,' linebacker T.J. Edwards said. 'He's a guy who's been doing that since OTAs, been here every day locked in and ready to go. 'An older guy (32), but you can see it when he's out there. He's got so much juice in him and he's just ready to go.' After 10 years with Atlanta and seeing Allen's defenses against the Falcons twice a season, Jarrett anticipated the attacking emphasis they're using. 'The grittiness, the attention to detail, the knowledge of knowing what everybody should be doing from front to back and how it all works together and communicating to us, as a defense, what his expectations are on a daily basis have all been something that I've been appreciating," Jarrett said. 'It definitely is going to make us all better and he is definitely somebody who's as hungry as ever just to go out there and compete and play football and he has some players that's ready to go out there and hunt for him.' Johnson, a Pro Bowl cornerback the past two seasons, normally would be replaced by Terell Smith. However, Smith suffered a soft-tissue injury during OTAs and is still out. Instead, he was replaced by veteran roster pickup Nahshon Wright to start camp. The Bears also added speedy cornerback Zah Frazier in the draft, and their secondary could be one of the team's strongest position groups once they adjust to playing less zone. Allen says it doesn't hurt having a 6-foot-5 linebacker manning the middle regardless of coverage emphasis, as Edmunds showed in Wednesday's practice. 'I'm anticipating him being an exceptional playmaker for us,' Allen said. 'He's got size. He's got range. He's got speed, a lot of the things we're going to look for in terms of — look, it's hard to throw over him. He's got length in the middle of the field." It could be Allen who supplies the extra edge the defense needs to bounce back. He had the defense doing exhausting up-downs in individual work on Wednesday, a drill normally associated with lower levels of football. 'It took me back to like seventh, eighth grade a little bit,' Edwards admitted. It was an extra bit of unanticipated 'fun' for the defense on a 95-degree day. 'It's all part of building the culture of what type of defense we're going to be,' Allen said. 'You have to pay the toll. You have to pay the price. It's a privilege to be on this defense. 'We've been doing that on every defense that I've been associated with since 2009. And it's a way to mentally train players to be tough and push through adversity. Training camp is going to be difficult, and we have to be able to overcome when we're tired.' ___ AP NFL:
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George Pickens compares himself and CeeDee Lamb to 'Mario Bros.,' says he's excited to 'run better plays' in Dallas
George Pickens recorded only one 1,000-yard receiving season in his three years with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now with the Dallas Cowboys, the former second-round pick hopes to put up video game numbers alongside four-time Pro Bowl receiver CeeDee Lamb. Pickens compared the two receivers to possibly the most iconic video game duo of all time when he was asked Tuesday at Cowboys training camp if their wideout tandem can be one of the best in the NFL. "Oh yeah, for sure," Pickens said. "Just different type of styles of play. A lot of people over the years got different styles of play, but CeeDee's a certain type of guy, then I'm a certain type of guy. So, when you mesh that together, it's like 'Mario Bros.' "We definitely can do something special." [Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season] If Lamb is Mario, the slightly taller Pickens is his sidekick and brother, Luigi. Like Luigi, Pickens can jump far and high. He turned heads with his diving grabs at Georgia. Pickens is also known for his ability to climb the ladder and come down with 50-50 balls, occasionally with only one hand and some acrobatic flare. As a rookie with the Steelers, the 6-foot-3 Hoover, Alabama, native tallied 19 contested catches, according to Pro Football Focus, the third most in the NFL during the 2022 season and more than Lamb has ever logged during a single season of his five-year Cowboys career. Granted Lamb came close with 18 contested catches last season, per PFF, but he's recognized more for the work he does in space. The Oklahoma product ranked fifth in the NFL with 544 yards after the catch (YAC) in 2024. The year before that, when Lamb was a first-team All-Pro and the league's receptions leader, he was second with 674 YAC and fifth with 20 missed tackles forced, according to PFF. Lamb flirted with 1,000 receiving yards as a rookie in 2020 but has comfortably eclipsed the mark each of the four seasons since, maxing out with 1,749 yards during his 135-reception 2023 campaign. Together, Lamb and Pickens figure to serve as the top-two receiving options for Cowboys veteran quarterback Dak Prescott, who is back after suffering a season-ending hamstring tear in Week 9 last season. In May, Dallas traded with Pittsburgh for Pickens. The Cowboys also received a 2026 sixth-round pick from the Steelers, who, in return, got a 2026 third-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick from Dallas. Pittsburgh moved Pickens, focusing on former Seattle Seahawks star DK Metcalf as the team's WR1. The Steelers had acquired Metcalf in a trade with the Seahawks earlier in the offseason and inked him to a $150 million deal. By that point, though, there were several signs pointing to a Pickens-Steelers breakup. While Pickens dealt with a revolving door at quarterback in Pittsburgh, the Steelers were subject to Pickens' well-documented maturity issues that dated back to his time at Georgia. Despite the trade and his new beginnings, Pickens isn't refraining from taking shots at his old team. "Yeah, I'm definitely excited to run better plays, for sure," Pickens said Tuesday, via Pickens will have a clean slate in Dallas, where he'll be running routes on the same field as Lamb, the Mario to his Luigi.
