The Chicago Bears had a rare Tuesday workday, holding a walk-through as they prepare for Saturday night’s NFC North showdown against the Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field.
Here are five things we learned at Halas Hall.
1. The Bears aren’t letting their guard down after Micah Parsons’ injury.
The Packers’ star edge rusher suffered a season-ending ACL tear in his left knee during Sunday’s 34-26 loss to the Denver Broncos.
According to NFL Pro’s Next Gen Stats, Parsons has generated a 20.5% pressure rate, highest among qualified edge rushers (minimum 200 pass rushes), despite being double-teamed 21.6% of the time, which ranks third-highest.
Against the Bears in Week 14, Parsons recorded eight pressures (tied for his fourth-highest total this season) and generated a 26.7% pressure rate.
“You can’t forget they have other good pass rushers other than Parsons,” Bears quarterback Caleb Williams said. “We’ll prepare how we normally prepare and have our stuff. And then when you get into a game, you obviously have to adjust for whatever they do.”
As the former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator, Bears coach Ben Johnson faced Packers coordinator Jeff Hafley’s defense twice last season — without Parsons, whom the Packers acquired in a trade with the Dallas Cowboys in late August.
“I know you kind of lock in on one player because he does garner a lot of your attention when you go against that defense,” Johnson said, “and yet they have some high-caliber players throughout on the defensive line, linebacking corps and on the back end. So just because one player goes down doesn’t mean this is going to change a whole lot for them.
“They play relentless football. They pursue. They have a ton of team speed. The linebackers are thumpers. If you ask your backs to pick them up in protection one too many times, then they’re going to find a way to get to your quarterback.”
2. A little bit of ‘arrogant’ is OK in Caleb Williams’ book.
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams celebrates the win over the Browns on Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, at Soldier Field. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
It takes a certain mindset to mentally green-light some of the risky throws the Bears quarterback routinely makes. Conventional wisdom says it’s a fine line between confident and cocky — but maybe it’s a mix.
“I think all quarterbacks have a little bit of an arrogant confidence about themselves because when everything’s going wrong, it’s all them,” he said. “When everything’s going right (it’s the same).
“So I think I have a little bit of that in me. My confidence is always strong. I believe in myself. I believe in who I am. I believe in how I work and all these different things. And then having the group around me only strengthens that for me.
“With that being said, my confidence is growing and it’s going to be through the roof.”
3. Re-examining Williams’ second touchdown throw to DJ Moore.
Bears wide receiver DJ Moore catches a touchdown pass over Browns cornerback Tyson Campbell (7) and safety Grant Delpit (9) in the third quarter Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, at Soldier Field. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
It was still a major talking point two days after the 31-3 rout of the Cleveland Browns. On first-and-10 in the third quarter, Williams drifted toward the sideline and threw a 22-yard strike to Moore in the back of the end zone against heavy traffic.
“Yeah, there’s not a whole lot to say on that,” Johnson said. “It’s one I know on the sideline I was probably vocal on the headset saying, ‘No, no, no, no … Yeah, yeah.’
“But those are the good ones. And that’s what the really good quarterbacks do. And he was able to find it, find his guy and gave him a good ball, and I really feel like it was us or nobody.”
According to Next Gen Stats, the pass had just a 16.1% chance of being completed, “the most improbable completion by a @ChicagoBears QB over the last five seasons (since 2021).”
Talking to reporters Tuesday, Williams immediately shot down any notion he threw up a prayer and hoped for the best.
“No, when I let the ball go, I’m pretty damn sure that it’s not going to be a bad play,” he said. “If anything, the bad play is an incompletion. And I think I’ve proven that over my time so far, being here and playing football in college.
“When I let it go, I think it’s a good ball and at the least it’s going to be incomplete.”
Johnson said Williams makes “smart” decisions with the football and “does a great job making sure he doesn’t turn that ball over.”
Williams has thrown six interceptions, tied for sixth-fewest among qualifiers, while boasting the fourth-best interception rate (1.3%).
His 3-yard scoring toss to Moore in the first quarter was the 1,000th attempt in his career, the minimum required to set an NFL record for fewest interceptions (12) to start a career.
4. Lessons learned from Round 1 vs. the Packers.
Packers wide receiver Christian Watson scores a touchdown while Bears safety Kevin Byard III attempts to tackle him in the second quarter Dec. 7, 2025, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
The Bears went toe to toe with the Packers at Lambeau Field two weeks ago, but their upset bid fell short on Williams’ game-sealing interception on fourth-and-1 with 22 seconds left.
On Saturday at Soldier Field, the NFC North title very well could be on the line.
“It’s no secret. We all know what’s at stake,” Bears defensive tackle Grady Jarrett said. “From every aspect of meaningful football games, it’s an exciting time to be playing meaningful football in December against an opponent like this, a rivalry like this.
“You can’t ask for a better game to be a part of.”
Johnson said that in any division rematch, “you try to make sure that you don’t make the same mistakes and try to continue to attack them in a certain fashion.”
But circumstances have changed in this case with Parsons being sidelined for the season. And game plans on both sides don’t remain static. So it’s a chess match, a cat-and-mouse game.
“They’re changing,” Johnson said. “Micah’s out. You’re trying to forecast what they might do to match certain personnel groups or slow down our run game. That’s a difficult thing to do when that injury happened last game. We’ve got to be prepared to adjust and play accordingly.”
Jarrett knows one place to start, at least for the defense.
“We’ve just got to cut out the big plays, man, and know every play counts,” he said. “It comes out to a couple plays in the game when you’re playing two top teams.
“We can’t make as many mistakes, whether it’s executing on defense, or a turnover here or not getting a turnover here. We’ve got to be on our P’s and Q’s, you know? That’s one of the biggest lessons we had to learn the hard way the first time out there.”
5. Injury report
The Bears released an estimated participation report after Tuesday’s walk-through. Wide receivers Rome Odunze (foot) and Luther Burden III (ankle) were listed as nonparticipants along with defensive tackle Andrew Billings (illness) and linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga (hamstring).
Odunze has missed the last two games, and the Bears-Packers rematch comes on a short week.
The Bears did receive more encouraging news. Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds (groin) was listed as a limited participant, his first availability since he was placed on injured reserve Nov. 22. The Bears opened his 21-day practice window Monday.
Running back Travis Homer (ankle) and tight end Cole Kmet (ankle/knee) also were limited. Kmet was upended by Browns safety Ronnie Hickman Jr. in the third quarter after making a 17-yard catch.
“Just a little roll,” Kmet said after the game. “Normal football stuff.”
Backup quarterback Tyson Bagent, who was added to the inactive list before Sunday’s game because of an illness, was listed as a full participant Tuesday.
