Chicago Bears rookie made poor 1st impression, showed up to practice out of shape: Report

One thing several beat reporters noted on Friday was that the first day of Chicago Bears rookie minicamp was slower than they typically have been under previous regimes. New head coach Ben Johnson suggested after the first practice that some rookies at camp were not “in shape” yet, and he wanted to slowly ramp up activities to avoid soft tissue injuries.

The Bears have two draft picks recovering from injuries from the 2024 season. Chicago’s No. 10 pick and tight end Colston Loveland will not return to full contact drills until training camp as he rehabs from the shoulder surgery he had on Jan. 29.

A Chicago Bears rookie was “out of breath” during practice

Defensive tackle and second-round pick Shemar Turner played through a shin issue at Texas A&M in 2024. He had to pull out of the Senior Bowl in January because the stress fracture never fully healed after he had a rod inserted into his leg.

Per Clay Harbor of CHSN, Turner appeared out of shape during rookie minicamp this past weekend.

“The first thing I noticed, I’ll be honest, not to throw shade here, but he was pretty out of breath during the rookie minicamp,” Harbor said on 670 The Score’s “Mully & Hugh Show” on Tuesday. “I think it was Adam Hoge (of CHGO) who asked him a question. He’s like, ‘Hey, how do you feel about your conditioning?’

“That was something we noticed, but he’ll be okay there. He’s got the ankle thing.”

Shemar Turner will likely remain at DT

Harbor thinks Turner will eventually get back into shape as he recovers from the injury. He believes the Bears will keep Turner on the interior part of the defensive line based on the weight the coaching staff wants him to play at. There had been talk that Chicago could try him some at defensive end in some packages.

“I think the decision to move him inside is a good one, and obviously when he’s talking about his weight, he wants to stay about 300 pounds, maybe a little bit under,” Harbor said of Turner. “That’s a telltale sign. You’re not moving him out to edge.

“If you’re moving out to edge, you’re gonna tell him you’re 270, 280, so you can move a little bit better, set the edge, not get outflanked, all that good stuff.”

Turner has a week to get into shape before he goes against veterans in the league, a much different sort of competition than what he faced at Texas A&M and at rookie minicamp.

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