LAKE FOREST, Ill. – When Bears coach Ben Johnson met the media on Friday morning, the team’s “stress test” for quarterback Caleb Williams was still ongoing.

There was still another practice, albeit a short one, to get through inside the Walter Payton Center.

“I’m hopeful we’ll have more clarity at the end of the day (Friday),” Johnson said. “He looked good (Thursday) for one practice but we’ve got to be able to stack a few back to back. He got some good work in on Wednesday. Even though we walked through, he went through his own throwing session beforehand. (That’s) part of the plan, and he’s on track right now.”

That would be on track to play Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Here is everything you need to know about the Bears from the podium to the locker room to the injury report in Week 6. 

1. Caleb Williams is “itching” to play, according to coach Ben Johnson, but he’s only one part of the equation when it comes to his actual in-game return.

The Bears’ medical, training and strength and conditioning departments are involved. So is the input from Johnson and his assistants, as well as general manager Ryan Poles and his team.   

After practice on Friday, Williams was listed as questionable after being a full participant. 

“If we feel really good as a front office, a coaching staff and player himself about playing, then we’ll go ahead and go with it,” Johnson said. 

But Williams is ready – ready for payback. 

Just look at social media, which includes “liking” or taking receipts on the Packers’ trash talk or using a picture of the fictitious hitman/vigilante John Wick for his Instagram picture.

“Yeah, I love John Wick, and that was a movie that I was watching, and I like his mentality, his attitude,” Williams said. “But the trash-talking stuff, (I) wasn’t out there. Is it frustrating that we get our tails kicked versus a rival? Of course. That’s not the position you want to be in and you know my position of not being out there, it’s frustrating. I think obviously you take it, you take it on the chin, you move on, but you learn from it and you use it for fuel throughout the next weeks and until the end of the season.”

That should start Sunday in Atlanta. 

2. The Bears’ backup situation is less clear after Tyson Bagent’s bad showing in Green Bay but Ben Johnson seems to want it that way.

“We got two guys who are equally qualified,” Johnson said.

On the field, Bagent was second in line after Caleb Williams during the individual drills that were open to the media on Thursday. Case Keenum was third. Then came Miller Moss.

The Bears prefer to view everything that went awry for Bagent against the Packers as a team effort, including their own failures as coaches. 

“Obviously, there’s a lot of that game that I think Tyson would want back,” offensive coordinator Press Taylor said. “There’s a lot of that we as a coaching staff and an offensive unit want back. That’s the biggest thing. As a whole, the quarterback involved obviously, we never got in any sort of rhythm. We weren’t able to create it. We weren’t able to create any momentum to really get going. We had I think one drive there that we had some sustained success (and) end up scoring, but we just weren’t able to put it together. 

“It’s one of those things – the game ends, how quickly can we get back on the grass, figure out what happened, address it, learn from it, move forward. And then this week, all we’ve talked about is responding. ‘How are we going to respond?’ It’s the same thing we’ve talked about every single week, from responding to Week 1 having success, Week 2 suffering a loss, to what it looks like. What’s the response of this group? And that’s something you really figure out about your unit as a whole of, ‘How do we handle success? How do we handle failure? How do we move forward?’ Because the league’s going to keep moving forward.”

3. The Bears – including Ben Johnson – have finally warmed to the idea of activating nickel back Kyler Gordon from the PUP list.

“He’s done a great job taking everything that we’ve assigned him so far,” Johnson said. “I feel good about him, whether that’s this week or next week. I do feel good about him being able to contribute to this team and help us out, and there’s a number of ways he can do that. But I’m encouraged with what I’ve seen so far.”

The Bears defense needs all the help it can get after losing defensive end Montez Sweat to a two-game suspension and defensive lineman Dayo Odeyingbo (quad) and linebacker T.J. Edwards (hamstring) to injuries.

But the Bears still have time remaining in Gordon’s 21-day practice window. It opened on Oct. 1 and Johnson has said that the team wants to use all of that allotted time. 

We’ll see if the Bears’ precarious injury situation changes that approach, though.

It should.

The Bears can activate Gordon on Saturday. 

“I said this before: I think that Kyler can help us win games,” defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said. “When that time comes where he’s able to be out there on the field and participate and help us win games, I’m looking forward to that time.”

4. The remarkable recovery of left tackle Ozzy Trapilo could include some game action in Atlanta. 

Trapilo has been on the 53-man roster all season but he’s yet to be active. 

That will change against the Falcons.

“There’s a chance that he’s up this week,” Johnson said.

What that amounts to in the actual game is unknown right now. 

The Bears, though, did feature a rotation earlier this season where Theo Benedet spelled Braxton Jones in order to keep Jones fresh later in games. 

A similar plan could potentially include Trapilo spelling Benedet, who is now the starter with Jones on injured reserve. The goal would be to get Trapilo up to game speed as he continues his return from a torn patellar tendon. 

“We think he’s really close,” Johnson said. 

5. Running back Kyle Monangai still needs time with his turf toe but D’Andre Swift appears to be in better shape for Week 6. 

Monangai was ruled out for Sunday. He didn’t practice all week. 

“It wasn’t one of those things we felt like we needed to put him on IR for,” Ben Johnson said. “So, it’s still week to week, and as far as I know, he’s trending in the right direction.”

Swift is, too. Last week, he was listed with hip and knee injuries and then received a season-low nine carries in the loss against the Packers. This week, Swift isn’t on the injury report.

6. With Dayo Odeyingbo and Montez Sweat out, Shemar Turner, a second-round pick last year, seemingly has an opportunity to make an instant impact on defense. 

If Turner plays on Sunday, it will be his first game in action in almost a full calendar year. He tore his ACL on Oct. 26 last seasn against the Baltimore Ravens.

“Definitely exciting, definitely nerves building, definitely more exciting than nerves,” Turner said this week. “Coming from not playing, this is going to be a testament to everything I’ve been through these last few months.”

Turner transitioned from tackle to end last season before his injury. But his versatility could provide defensive coordinator Dennis Allen with options that he desperately needs right now. 

“That’s like home for me,” Turner said of playing defensive end. “It’s second nature to me. I can wake up and just play defense every day. It’s just like brushing your teeth, almost. That’s how it is for me.”

7. Don’t forget that this is Gervon Dexter Sr. Revenge Game week. 

The Bears traded Dexter – a three-year starter at defensive tackle and a former second-round pick  – to the Falcons on Aug. 30 for defensive back Clark Phillips III and a fifth-round pick in 2027. Atlanta then signed Dexter to a four-year, $78 million extension.

“He’s a phenomenal football player,” Ben Johnson said. “We know that about him. It was one of those things I think it was a win-win for both sides in terms of him getting a fresh start and going down to a really good style of defense that matches his skill set. He’s playing hard, he’s getting out of the stack, he’s chasing the ball down, which is really the MO of their entire defense.”

Phillips, on the other hand, has barely played for the Bears. He’s been on the field for only 14 snaps on special teams this season. 

8. Falcons running back Bijan Robinson is going to be a problem on Sunday.

Everything the Bears have said about Robinson – who leads the NFL with 580 rushing yards – has been glowing this week. 

“He’s a bigger player than you think when you watch him on tape, but his speed and his transition, his ability to make cuts and accelerate, is exceptional,” defensive coordinator Dennis Allen. “You watch him play and when there’s space in the defense, he can really exploit that. And so it’s going to be a hell of a challenge for us. I certainly think he’s, if not the, one of the best backs in our league right now. And when he’s going, they’re playing at a really high level.”

Of course, Robinson was on Ben Johnson’s radar in 2023. The Detroit Lions (with Johnson) drafted running back Jahmyr Gibbs with the 12th pick that year. The Falcons took Robinson at No. 8.

“Oh, I loved him,” Johnson said. “Yeah, I absolutely loved him. That was a really solid running back draft. I think there were a number of guys coming out that year. But at Texas, he was all over the place. What you see now is what he showed on that Texas tape, just from a bigger body, yet elusive, very hard to bring down. It takes a village to try to bottle ‘em up and get him down.

“Even then, he finds a way to squirm his way through and get an extra three, four yards on a lot of these plays. That’s showing up still in the NFL, and I think what separates him a little bit is just his ability to catch the ball. He’s like a receiver in terms of his hands. He’s got these one-handed grabs, and then he’s able to get vertical right away after he catches the ball. It’s just a really impressive skill set that he possesses.”

9. Falcons receiver Drake London is ALSO going to be a problem on Sunday.

He’s not the same speedy threat that Matthew Golden and Christian Watson are for the Packers. But London uses his size at 6-4 and 215 pounds to create problems. London leads the Falcons with 27 catches and 488 receiving yards.

The way he plays, though, could also make him a better matchup for cornerback Jaylon Johnson after he struggled in Green Bay.

“He likes to push,” Johnson said of London. “I mean, off the line that’s legal, so he can get away with it. I think down the field it’s just playing receiver. If they called it every time, it wouldn’t make the game fun. So I think he uses that to his advantage. He’s big and also he’s pretty strong for his size. I think a lot of times you don’t have to get full extension to get a guy off of you. So I think he does it well, but I mean he plays the game really just how he is to his advantage – and that’s big.”

10. Defensive tackle Grady Jarrett doesn’t view his trip back to Atlanta as a homecoming.

“My time in Atlanta was well served,” Jarrett said earlier this week. “Ten years, lot of success, some struggles, but I gave it its due time and respect. I think all my focus is here right now doing what I need to do and getting this team back on the right track. But I definitely think it’s special any time getting to go back and play in a stadium like that and around those fans that I’ve been around for so long.  I definitely gotta acknowledge how special that is to me, and it means a lot. 

“But I don’t think there’s much need for me to take a big reflection day and hit my knee and think about this and that. I mean, I’m grateful to God to have me where I am right now, take me through everything I can (and) been through there to make me who I am to be – the best me for this team here now – and I acknowledge that. But the main focus is getting this team on the right track back in the winning column and going out there and competing our tails off.”