An offseason that felt incredibly long is over. Chicago Bears football is on the horizon, with a road trip to take on the Carolina Panthers in Week 1.
The Bears look like the better team on paper, but the first game of the season can be a tricky beast, and it's not always proof of who the better team actually ultimately is (see the Las Vegas Raiders beating the New England Patriots in Week 1 last year).
The defending NFC South champion hosts will not lay down for the Bears, and they have some legit talent at multiple positions.
With that in mind, these five Panthers' players should especially be on the Bears' radar in Week 1.
5 Panthers players the Bears have to careful with in Week 1
5. WR Jalen Coker
Coker's closing stretch last season, with three touchdowns over the final five regular season games followed by nine catches for 134 yards with a touchdown in the Panthers' playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams, has many people projecting a full-fledged breakout this season.
With Tetairoa McMillan sure to draw plenty of attention from the Bears' secondary in Week 1, Coker is lined up for favorable matchups against non-Jaylon Johnson cornerbacks. That could get ugly, and quickly, if Bryce Young is comfortable in the pocket.
4. CB Jaycee Horn
After injuries limited him to six games or fewer in his first three NFL seasons, Horn has been mostly healthy the last two seasons (31 games played) and has earned a Pro Bowl selection in each campaign. Pro Football Focus has not been fond of his work, but he allowed just a 48.4 percent completion rate in his coverage last season, according to Pro Football Reference.
Among the Bears' wide receivers. Horn is likely to primarily draw the Rome Odunze assignment on Sunday. The volume of uncatchable targets Odunze has had from Caleb Williams over their first two seasons together is troubling, and if Williams is less than precise on Sunday, Horn will make him pay.
Horn likely covering Odunze regularly is not a reason for Williams to avoid throwing the ball to his draft classmate. He just needs to be careful.
3. RB Jonathon Brooks
The Bears had an awful run defense last season, and until it improves this season, it's an issue.
How the Panthers will split their backfield work is unclear, and the positive buzz around Brooks has been dampened a little by reports he's dealing with "soreness" heading toward the season opener. With a twice-torn right ACL, the red flag there is inherent.
But if Brooks is healthy, the talent that had him seen by some as the best running back in the 2024 draft class ostensibly remains. Even if he only gets a handful of carries against the Bears, as the Panthers manage him carefully with an eye on the longer haul of the season, he's still a potentially very dangerous runner who can tilt the field with explosive plays.
2. EDGE Jaelan Phillips
Phillips parlayed a five-sack 2025 campaign, split between two teams, into a four-year, $120 million deal from the Panthers back in March. To be fair, the analytics (76 pressures, ninth-most among edge rushers last season according to Pro Football Focus) show some unrealized production, which has been a common story when he's been healthy.
Over the course of his career, Phillips has mostly lined up on the left edge of the defense. That would, of course, put him across from the Bears' right tackle, Darnell Wright, more often than not in the season opener, but Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero surely knows better than to do that very much.
Braxton Jones is the favorite to be the Bears' left tackle on Sunday, unless Ozzy Trapilo's quick comeback from a torn patellar tendon comes to full fruition. But as of this writing, Jones should be the guy, and the weak link of the Chicago offensive line should be tested on a regular basis by the Panthers' best pass rusher.
1. WR Tetairoa McMillian
The reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year says he's 20 pounds heavier than he was at this time last year, and it's not like he was small to start with (6-foot-5, 212 pounds). Head coach Dave Canales has also said McMillian will work out of the slot more this season, and that came to fruition with nine of his 22 preseason snaps coming in the slot.
McMillan will surely see a lot of Bears' No. 1 cornerback Jaylon Johnson on Sunday. Before last season, when lower-body injuries were surely playing a part in his deployment, Johnson played both the right and left perimeter corner spots a good bit. So he may (and arguably should) travel with McMillan.
But if Johnson doesn't travel with McMillan, he would get a favorable matchup against either rookie Malik Muhammad in the slot or No. 2 corner Tyrique Stevenson on the opposite side of the Bears' best cornerback.
Read more: An unlikely Week 1 outcome in Bears' LT battle can't be ruled out (yet)
Any way you slice it, McMillan is a significant mismatch for the Bears' secondary. If Johnson doesn't travel with him, it could be way too easy for Bryce Young to look his No. 1 target's way with regular success.
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