The Chicago Bears will not have to spend much time at training camp without veteran edge rusher Montez Sweat, their highest-paid defensive player, after initially placing him on the injury/illness list ahead of their first practice.
According to the NFL’s daily transaction wire for July 28, the Bears placed Sweat on the active/non-football illness (NFI) list on Tuesday when their veterans reported for camp. As a result, he sat out of the team’s first practice on Wednesday, July 30,
Encouragingly, though, ESPN’s Courtney Cronin reported that the Bears did not expect the 29-year-old defensive end to miss more than a few days with his illness — and that proved correct on July 29 when the Bears officially activated him from the NFI list.
Sweat is now eligible to return to practice without restriction on Thursday, July 30.
The Bears also placed veteran safety Elijah Hicks on the active/physically unable to perform (PUP) list on Tuesday with a shin injury that general manager Ryan Poles said will “take a little bit of time” when speaking to reporters at Tuesday’s news conference.
Bears Seeking Continued Growth From Montez Sweat
The Bears are counting on Sweat — their $98 million star edge rusher — to pick up right where he left off in 2025 as one of the centerpieces of their defense. He tallied 10 sacks, 54 pressures and 17 quarterback hurries in 17 regular-season starts for their defense, hitting double-digit sacks for the second time in his seven-year career.
“I’d like to see him continue to improve and take what he did last year and add to that,” Poles said Tuesday when speaking about the team’s edge rushers at the outset of camp.
A good start for Sweat would be figuring out how to turn his high-end pressure total into high-end sack production more consistently. While his 10 sacks led the Bears in 2025, he had his hands on a few more before letting them slip through his fingers.
The Bears must also do their part in supporting Sweat with their other edge rushers. Much to the chagrin of analysts, Chicago did not make any major moves to fortify its defensive end room during the 2026 offseason. The most significant move it made at the position was re-signing backup/special teams ace Daniel Hardy to a new contract.
The Bears believe their pass-rush unit will improve if they can get healthier years out of Dayo Odeyingbo, Shemar Turner and Austin Booker, but running it back with the same unit that had the second-worst pass-rush win rate in the league in 2025 is still a gamble — one that could directly impact Sweat’s success if a reliable partner fails to emerge.
Will Bears Add Another Pass Rusher Before Week 1?
Poles didn’t shut the door on the possibility of the Bears adding another pass rusher to their roster before the start of the 2026 season, but he didn’t sound too interested in the prospect of doing so, either, when talking about his defensive ends at the start of camp.
“We’re going to investigate any opportunities to get better,” Poles said Tuesday. “But at the end of the day, we’ve got to make sure we know our team. So we’ll evaluate on a daily basis and see what we need to do.”
The next month will be critical for the Bears in terms of figuring out whether their run-it-back strategy will work out. They know what they have in Sweat, but they need to see what versions of Booker and Odeyingbo will show up for 2026. Booker was on the cusp of a breakout toward the end of 2025, while Odeyingbo is coming off an Achilles tear.
Meanwhile, Turner is starting camp on the PUP list as he continues to recover from the ACL tear that he sustained in October 2025. The Bears may simply want to ease him back into the action, but concerns will increase the longer he spends on the injury list.
If things aren’t looking how they want them by mid-August, don’t be surprised if the Bears explore their options in free agency or start making calls on the trade market.
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