After a blowout loss to the Detroit Lions in Week 2, Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson pulled no punches as he promised increased competition for skill position reps in an effort to get the offense on a better track.
"There were some plays there yesterday (the game against Detroit) that we weren't quite as pleased with what that looked like on tape," Johnson said. "So, we're going to find out this week at practice who wants to practice hard and who wants to be a little bit more involved with the game plan here going into Sunday.”
Ben Johnson said the Bears want to get more packages for Luther Burden III.
— Sean Hammond (@sean_hammond) September 15, 2025
Asked about Burden and Colston Loveland, Johnson said: "Going into this week is we're going to have a lot more competition."
The plan to get rookie wide receiver Luther Burden more involved in Week 3 against the Dallas Cowboys came to fruition, but a hip injury early in the game cost rookie tight end Colston Loveland the same opportunity.
Loveland then missed Week 4 against the Las Vegas Raiders due to the injury, so any idea of getting him more involved had to be pushed to after the bye week.
When the Bears returned to practice on Tuesday, Loveland participated and offered a promising update on his health heading toward Week 6 against the Washington Commanders.
"I was over it pretty quickly. I knew it wasn't a season-ending injury. I was itching to get back as soon as possible."
Fantasy analyst steps firmly onto the Colston Loveland bandwagon
On Tuesday's edition of the "Fantasy Focus" podcast, as part of the "Field In The Blank" segment with the prompt "I'm keeping my eye on (insert player name) for a midseason breakout", ESPN analyst Field Yates chose Loveland.
"I thought about this one for awhile", Yates said. "I didn't wanna give you somebody random, who is trending up already, giving you like 10 fantasy points and you're looking for the potential for 15 or so."
"I'm keeping my eye on Colston Loveland for a midseason breakout. We are looking, we're desperate for anybody at tight end that can give us some level of production."
"Colston Loveland got hurt in Week 3 for the Bears, missed Week 4, they were off in Week 5. In Week 3 against the Dallas Cowboys, Colston Loveland played a total of six snaps. On those six snaps, he had three targets."
Yates went on to highlight Cole Kmet's lackluster performance against the Raiders in Week 4, when he theoretically could have asserted himself as the Bears' No. 1 tight end. Yates also highlighted how drafting Loveland was about playing the "long game" for the Bears (and any fantasy managers who drafted him this year, for that matter).
Yates thinks that "long game" payoff could be now, or very soon, if Loveland starts playing the majority of the Bears' offensive snaps over Kmet. Before his hip injury against Dallas, he was on his way to offering a glimpse of what that looks like.
As expected, Loveland is available in a lot of fantasy leagues even after waivers have cleared heading into Week 6 (31.2 percent rostered in ESPN leagues; 26 percent rostered in Yahoo! leagues). It would be uncomfortable to start him this week, and with just two teams on a bye, he shouldn't be in that conversation.
Read more: Ben Johnson says little (but says it all) about who Bears' starting LT will be
But make no mistake, now is the time for fantasy managers who need help at tight end to consider stashing the Bears' rookie.