Chicago Bears receivers who managed to gain Ben Johnson's trust

Throughout Bears training camp, numerous players have made big plays or statement type plays.

Recently, wide receiver Luther Burden III stepped up and Colston Loveland has put his stamp on touchdowns or big gainers for a handful of practices.

As offensive play caller, coach Ben Johnson needs to have confidence all of his starters or key reserves can produce when their number is called. Some of them have that confidence. Others do not ... yet.

"I think Cole Kmet, I think DJ Moore, I think Rome Odunze; those are the three that stand out to me, first and foremost," Johnson said. "I think OZ (Olamide Zaccheaus) is doing a great job of being where he is supposed to be, and he's being a professional about it."

Zaccheaus, the free agent acquisition from the Commanders, has made receptions and sometimes multiple catches, in every practice despite being on the field with holdover veteran players. He had another TD on a wide receiver screen Sunday at Soldier Field in 11-on-11 scrimmage.

Johnson did not list Loveland yet, or Burden or any number of others including Tyler Scott and Devin Duvernay.

"The rookies, they're still learning, they're still growing, and they just haven't been out there enough to earn that trust yet," he said of Loveland and Burden. "I would say throughout the course of spring and camp so far; those are the four (Kmet, Moore, Odunze and Zaccheaus) I'd bring up first."

Undrafted wide receiver John Paul Richardson seems to make catches every day in practice, too, and had a long TD catch Sunday. He has the same status as the drafted rookies. In other words, no status.

"He was someone that I gave some flowers to a couple of days ago after practice," Johnson said. "Then, naturally, when you do that, the next day, they let you down a little bit. That happened, but he bounces right back, just like the rest of these guys.

"I'm really proud of their resolve, really, as a whole, all of these guys. You might have a bad day, but I don't know of many guys that have had back-to-back bad days. It is a prideful group. Football is important to them. They're trying to do things the right way. I come off the field, without seeing the tape, feeling like, you know what, the defense got the better of the offense today. I think the offense will bounce back going tomorrow and the day after."

Johnson's going to need that confidence in everyone if he's going to call the wild trick plays he's known for, or even simple pass plays.

Linebacker T.J. Edward thinks it's only a matter of time before Loveland is trusted. Loveland made a TD catch on a throw from Caleb Williams in red zone work Sunday against the first team defense.

“Yeah, I had some time with him even kind of before camp started," Edwards said. "He was working out at the facility, so I was just kind of doing some movement stuff with him and I was like, 'yeah, he can roll a little bit.'

"He’s good kid, man. He works hard. All he does is just put his head down and go to work. And obviously he's got good leaders in that room with Cole and guys like that. He challenges us every day, that whole linebackers room. It's a really good matchup for us. And every day we kind of get to see where we're at with those guys.”