Chicago Bears storylines for June: Trevis Gipson’s big challenge, Jaylon Johnson’s return and the new look of NFL kickoffs

The Chicago Bears will hold their final organized team activities this week before mandatory minicamp June 13-15 at Halas Hall. Coach Matt Eberflus is eager to continue pushing his team in the right direction with a new-look roster and a lengthy list of questions they need answered.

As the Bears grind through June, here’s the inside slant on three notable storylines.

‘This is about me’

Trevis Gipson looked toward a ceiling at Halas Hall, replaying in his mind the reel of near-misses he had throughout the 2022 season. So many times Gipson felt as if he was on the verge of a momentum-changing sack only to be left empty-handed.

A half-step slow. A quarter-second late. A bit too eager.

He can envision them all in vivid detail.

“Every single one of them,” Gipson said. “Miami Dolphins, I had an open one waiting for me on Tua (Tagavailoa). Buffalo Bills, Josh Allen, I missed two. Against Philadelphia I missed one. Shoot, even against the Lions the second time we played, I missed one that was right there. Close but not close enough.”

Gipson sighed and shook his head.

“I could go on if you want me to.”

No need. Point made.

In Week 2, Gipson took down Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers twice — for a 4-yard loss on the opening drive and an 8-yard sack in the second quarter. One hundred five days passed before his next and final sack of the season — in the third quarter of a Week 17 blowout loss in Detroit.

That drought gnawed at Gipson, particularly after an encouraging seven-sack season in 2021. He figured his NFL production was on an escalator. Until it wasn’t.

“It was humbling, man,” Gipson said. “Having the success I had my second season, I thought it was all on the way up. But that’s not how it went.”

Those struggles irked Gipson.

“But I’m appreciative now,” he said. “It may sound crazy, but I am appreciative for how it went because it exposed some of the weaker spots in my game last year that I can dial in on now.”

Gipson’s pass-rushing funk coincided with a season in which the Bears totaled a league-worst 20 sacks, their lowest total since 2003. It also sets the stage for a new opportunity in 2023 with Gipson hoping to help revive the pass rush while stimulating his career advancement.

Still, don’t burden Gipson with discussions about his first contract year and the stakes attached. It’s not that he hasn’t thought about it. It’s just not the headspace he wants to live in heading into his fourth season with his rookie deal set to expire next March.

“Honestly, man, I’m trying to take the stress off myself,” Gipson said. “I’ve been playing football since I was 5 years old. Obviously it’s a lifelong dream to play in the NFL, and I know this opportunity that is coming up. But I’m trying not to put too much pressure on myself or think too much. I find myself playing better when I don’t put that stress on myself.”

Admittedly, Gipson entered last season thinking about what a highly productive year as a pass rusher could mean. How could he not?

“There were times where I was thinking, ‘If I can just make these plays or do this or do that, I can get extended,’” he said. “That wasn’t my main thought. At all. But I did have those thoughts from time to time. And we work so hard, it’s almost inevitable that you feel yourself wanting to climb in that way.

“But going into this year, I’m not going to put that stress on myself. Just make the plays and let the plays I make speak for me. Then just let it ride.”

He’s taking a microfocused approach, working not only to lock in on each day, but also to zero in on the tiniest details during every practice rep. Bears defensive line coach Travis Smith talks all the time about the need to invest in “tedious repetition of the simplest movements.”

Gipson nodded immediately, explaining how that familiar phrase applies to him.

“Even last year,” he said, “when you look at many of the sacks I missed, it was 6 inches or less. Or a split-second or less. For me now, it’s about crowding the ball, having my head behind my hand, getting as much out of the first step of my pass rush as I can get. All of it adds up.

“I think in life, people get it messed up. You may view something as really small, but those things add up. And overall when you look back, those small things can dang near become a mountain. Now for me it’s about chipping away at the smallest things, knowing everything is important.”

Smith loves that mindset.

“It’s about doing the simple things better,” he said. “Trev learned our system last year. He had a good understanding of it. But also it’s about how we can execute it with speed and violence.”

Step one?

“Everything we do — no matter whether it’s first, second or third down — is about our get-off,” Smith said. “And you can’t have a good get-off unless it starts with the stance.”

Thus, Smith and Gipson have talked at great length about the basics of creating the right stance. Play after play. Situation by situation. It starts with an understanding of proper alignment on each snap. Tilted or square? Is his weight being distributed more heavily through his hand in the grass or back in his feet?

“We’re an attacking vertically, upfield-pressure team,” Smith said. “So that starts with stance.”

Gipson also is moving around more. After playing almost exclusively on the left side in 2021 and 2022, he will have his chances this spring and summer to attack off both edges.

Throughout the offseason, Gipson pushed himself to get stronger and faster while developing stamina. During OTA practices the last two weeks, he said he has noticed a difference in how explosively he is changing direction.

Gipson understood how fortunate he was during his first two seasons to be learning every day from Khalil Mack and Robert Quinn. He remains close with Quinn, who has passed on important advice for this next stage of the journey.

“Rob sets it straight: This is a business,” Gipson said. “So you better take advantage of your opportunities. But keep your head down and work. You can’t (think), ‘Man, I can’t wait until we get a break (this summer). Man, I can’t wait until we’re through OTAs.’ That can be a lot of guys’ mindset, but that’s not a good one to have. A big thing Robert likes to say is ‘Be where your feet are.’”

Smith appreciates the energy Gipson brings to the grind.

“This is a phenomenal opportunity,” Smith said. “And the best thing is I haven’t seen him hesitate at all.”

In three NFL seasons, Gipson has played under two coaching staffs and in multiple systems. He has been an outside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme and a defensive end in the current defense. He is working to be effective on the left and right sides.

The Bears signed veteran end DeMarcus Walker to a three-year, $21 million deal this spring and continue to shop the free-agent market for pass rushers.

Smith hasn’t seen Gipson flinch.

“Has he changed his demeanor at all? No,” Smith said. “Is he competing every day? Absolutely. That’s what I mean when I talk about us (having) the right 53 guys. That’s part of the mix right there.

“It doesn’t matter what has been thrown at Trevis, what adversity he has faced, every day he’s out here trying to get better.”

Gipson stressed that he has control of the steering wheel for where his career heads from here.

“This is about me,” he said. “Honestly, man, it’s about not letting anything affect me or throw me off course. It’s about me knowing what I want to do, what I need to do, what I plan to do and really just taking it from there.

“At the end of the day, there’s only one person underneath that helmet. I can’t look to Trav or anyone else like, ‘Hey, do this cross-chop for me.’ Or, ‘Get this sack for me.’ It’s all about me, man.”

The work continues.

Mixed messaging

When the Bears return to practice Tuesday, cornerback Jaylon Johnson expects to be in attendance, making his OTA debut and terminating the search party for where he has been while his team has pushed through several phases of the offseason program.

Johnson explained his sabbatical Thursday on ESPN’s “Keyshawn, Jay and Max” show, emphasizing that he has remained home in Fresno, Calif., over the last few months in part to devote attention to his charitable efforts and to spend more time with his 3-year-old daughter, Zaveah.

“I don’t get too much time during the season to get with her,” Johnson said. “So for me, the offseason is a lot of time for her, to make that for family. I’m a big family guy for sure. Being a young dad (I’m) just trying to be present in my daughter’s life.”

Fair enough. That was a straightforward and understandable explanation with Johnson also dismissing any speculation that his extended absence might have been tied into desires for a contract extension.

“I know I can be a dominant corner,” he said. “I am a dominant corner in this league, following No. 1 wide receivers. Now it’s just finding ways to continue to do my job at a higher rate, continue to be a better teammate, continue to find ways to win.

“At the end of the day, that’s all I want to do. I haven’t had a winning season since I’ve been on the Chicago Bears yet. … With winning comes paychecks. At the end of the day, I need to focus on winning. That’s what I’m worried about going into Year 4.”

On the contract side of things, that answers that. For now.

A bigger question, though, is why Johnson’s coaches — namely Matt Eberflus and defensive coordinator Alan Williams — didn’t more directly explain Johnson’s absence from the first two weeks of OTAs as a means of quieting the noise that mushroomed from the situation.

Eberflus was vague on May 25 when asked about Johnson being absent from OTAs.

“This is a voluntary time for all the players,” he said. “Some players have certain things going on. It’s their right to be in here or not. … It’s just a voluntary deal. That is the way it is with the (collective bargaining agreement). There’s nothing you can do to get upset about it. Guys choose to be here or choose not to.”

Eight days later, Williams wouldn’t even directly answer a question about whether Johnson was back in the building and ready to practice at an OTA workout that was opening to reporters less than an hour later.

“Can I say, ‘No comment’?” Williams asked. “I’m going to say, ‘No comment.’”

He continued with a public sales pitch to Johnson.

“I want the guys to be out there because I do feel that we bring value,” Williams said. “I think we have the best coaching staff in the world, the best training staff, the best strength and conditioning staff. We have the best dietitian. We have the best of everything here. So I want guys to be here. But it is voluntary. … The guys who are here? We’re going to coach them up and teach them.”

Eberflus and Williams expressed an undertone of disappointment and discontent but nothing that spoke to an irreparable fracture. If Johnson does as promised and returns to Lake Forest for the final week of OTAs and next week’s minicamp, this late spring episode quickly might be forgotten.

Still, it remains open for debate how much Johnson’s time away and his reasoning for it has resonated with coaches, teammates and bosses at Halas Hall. Defensive backs coach Jon Hoke said after Wednesday’s practice that Johnson had been actively participating in at least some meetings over Zoom this spring, a detail that, for whatever reason, wasn’t shared by Eberflus or Williams to take some heat off their top cornerback.

For Eberflus, an unproven second-year coach who is trying to create a unified, effort-based culture built on belief and buy-in, the absence of any starter or leader will always be notable, voluntary or not.

The likelihood is Johnson’s return this week will be welcomed and the disappointment over his absence will recede quickly. It is early June, after all, with the Bears not playing their first regular-season game for another three-plus months.

But Eberflus’ leadership will be tested in the way he continues setting and maintaining standards.

‘A trial run’

The first couple of weeks of the NFL regular season promise to be a bit jarring for the casual fan.

Sometime in early September, a kickoff returner will signal for a fair catch deep in his territory, perhaps just a yard or 2 outside the end zone, and the decision will feel abnormal, no matter how smart it is.

A new league rule, mirroring NCAA regulations, will instantly provide the return team the ball at its 25-yard line on any fair catch made inside the 25.

That amendment was approved at last month’s spring meetings in Minneapolis as a one-year trial aimed to improve player health and safety by reducing high-speed, high-impact collisions on kickoffs.

Rich McKay, chairman of the league’s competition committee, cited data that indicated the concussion rate on kickoffs has increased in recent years as teams have more frequently placed high-arcing kicks outside the goal line but deep in an opponent’s territory, forcing a return.

Comparing NFL concussion rates with NCAA numbers, a case was made to persuade owners to adapt this new rule. Despite the objections and reservations of coaches across the league, the new kickoff rule will be in play in 2023 for a one-season trial, creating strategic challenges for special teams units.

Previously, the most significant adaptation to the kickoff was made in 2016, when receiving teams were awarded the ball at the 25 rather than the 20 for a touchback. But that required the football to be kicked into the end zone. Now, a well-placed, high kickoff inside the 25 but outside the goal line will result in a touchback if the receiving team opts for a fair catch.

At Halas Hall, the change has been accepted but not embraced, with Matt Eberflus predicting the new rule will lead to tactical games that actually increase the number of returns.

“I think we’ll get more squib kicks,” he said. “I think you’ll get more drop kicks, more drive kicks, those types of things where you make guys return it.”

Bears special teams coordinator Richard Hightower seemed to agree but shied away last week from directly criticizing the change, calling it “water under the bridge.”

“At this point,” Hightower said, “what we are trying to do is figure out strategically how to attack the situation and (determine) the best ways to win the ballgame.”

Hightower will be a key figure in that chess game for the Bears, but at this point he couldn’t say with certainty how he thinks the change will affect games.

“It’s a trial run,” he said. “We could talk about it forever but we don’t know (how things will change) until we play. … I don’t think I’m going to lose a lot of sleep or gain a lot of sleep either way on it. I’m just ready to play ball on it.”

Hightower said it ultimately will be up to kickoff returners to surf the new rule however they see fit, with some teams figuring to be more aggressive than others with their return philosophy. But all special teams coaches will have new rules and guidelines that they pepper their kickoff return unit with. And to that end, Hightower and the Bears staff have begun studying college data on kickoffs and will closely monitor how things go during the preseason.

Hightower understands the league’s safety prioritization and hopes the rule change has its desired effect.

“The league is trying to do the right thing. We’re all trying to do the right thing,” he said. “We all care about our players. It’s a trial run and then they’ll vote on it again (next year). And then we’ll see.”

In the short term, be ready for things to feel a bit strange.