CHICAGO — The same holes the Chicago Bears defense had for much of last season have yet to be filled to this point in the offseason.

Two weeks remain in the voluntary offseason program before mandatory minicamp June 9-11, and so far the Bears are missing 40% of their starting secondary — a situation they frequently were in last fall because of recurring injuries.

Cornerback Jaylon Johnson, who was married at the beginning of May according to his Instagram account, has yet to report. That’s not overly surprising given how he has operated.

And nickel cornerback Kyler Gordon, who sources said wasn’t with the team at the outset of the offseason program, has since been out with a soft-tissue injury. Gordon missed 14 regular-season games in 2025 and had two stints on injured reserve with groin, hamstring and calf injuries that initially sidelined him in the first week of August.

Does that make it difficult for defensive backs coach Al Harris to envision what a rebuilt secondary — with two new safeties in free-agent signee Coby Bryant and first-round pick Dillon Thieneman — will look like?

“I haven’t thought about it that way,” Harris said Thursday. “The way that I look at it is whoever is out there, get them to the football.”

Injuries in May are no reason to panic with the regular season 3 1/2 months away and training camp roughly two months off. Soft-tissue injuries have kept Gordon off the field during the offseason and training camp in previous years, and before 2025 he was relatively durable, with most of his games lost due to other injuries (broken hand, concussion).

But the Bears are more than four months removed from the end of their playoff run, and Gordon is back where he spent the majority of last season: trying to get back on the field.

“It’s disappointing,” coach Ben Johnson said in December after the Bears placed Gordon on IR for the second time. “I wish I had a better feel for the individual, but with him being out as much as he has, I haven’t really gotten to see him on the field and competing to get to know him like I’d like to.”

Obviously the coaching staff hoped that learning process would pick up this spring, and while there’s still time, it would be surprising if frustration levels haven’t ticked up. The Bears have six scheduled organized team activities over the next two weeks, beginning Wednesday, leading into minicamp.

Nickel cornerbacks coach Cannon Matthews declined to speculate whether Gordon could get on the field before the Bears reach their break. In terms of learning about Gordon, that process is ongoing.

“In the season is tough, especially last year being a first-year staff,” Matthews said. “I think me more than anybody, I spent a little bit more time with him. I hope I have a better feel for the man. We’ve grown that relationship this offseason. The offseason helps progress that relationship, but it is tough. Last year was kind of tough.

“One thing we pride ourselves on is establishing real relationships, and when you’re in and out, it’s kind of hard. That’s been one of the points of emphasis for us, especially with him, reconnecting and really starting over to work to establish that relationship.”

Gordon flashed in January when he returned for the postseason. He was credited with two pass breakups in the wild-card victory over the Green Bay Packers and was all over the field in the divisional-round loss to the Los Angeles Rams, in which he had seven tackles and a sack.

“The Packers game, you saw he started hot and was a little fatigued at the end, especially in the two-minute situation,” Matthews said. “But you could really see the potential that showed up against L.A. Just got to work and build off of that moving forward.”

Gordon is the kind of versatile defensive back who is ideal for defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, but the Bears spent so much time working with backup plans last season that it became problematic. C.J. Gardner-Johnson was an adequate fill-in at times, but his lack of speed and ability to turn and run was exposed too frequently, especially down the stretch run.

It will be fascinating to see how things play out in the secondary because Johnson and Gordon find themselves in make-or-break situations with the Bears, and 2023 second-round pick Tyrique Stevenson is in the final year of his contract.

Johnson, 27, returned from core muscle surgery after Week 1 to play in seven regular-season games. He’s signed for $13.05 million in 2027 with a $2 million roster bonus. If he plays well this year, he’ll be in line for a new deal as the cornerback market has taken off since he was extended in March 2024.

If he doesn’t, the Bears could be poised to move on, which is standard for veterans near the end of a rich second contract.

Johnson hasn’t been shy about betting on himself in the past, and if he recaptures the form that led to Pro Bowl selections in 2023 and 2024, he’ll be just fine. But he has to stay on the field, too, and arriving pre-injured for training camp last summer led to a challenging season.

“I have no doubt that fully healthy, we’ll get what we need to see,” Harris said. “I have no doubt about that at all.”

Gordon has a ton to play for. He signed a three-year, $40 million extension just 13 months ago that made him the highest-paid slot cornerback in the NFL, a deal no one questioned at the time. That extension included $21.3 million guaranteed, and all of that will have been paid after this season.

He’s signed for $10 million in 2027 and $9 million in 2028 (with a $1 million roster bonus), and there’s no way the team would stick with a high-priced nickel back it isn’t confident will be regularly available.

As far as Stevenson, who will have an opportunity to compete with rookie fourth-round pick Malik Muhammad, Harris piggybacked off what Ben Johnson said earlier this offseason about needing to coach better.

“I would say I had to do a better job with ‘Rique — me,” Harris said when asked about his end-of-season evaluation of Stevenson. “Because regardless of anything else, what shows on the field, that falls in my wheelhouse.

“Toward the end of the year, I thought he was excellent in terms of how he was handling himself, being accountable. I think that led into the guy we’re seeing right now. The talent is definitely there. He can do whatever I ask him to do.”

As the offseason program winds toward the end, there’s no reason to believe the Bears can’t be more athletic, more disruptive and ultimately better than they were last season, when they led the NFL with 23 interceptions.

They also need to be healthier, and one key cog is currently injured while another who’s coming off an injury-riddled season is reinforcing the “voluntary” part of the offseason program.

“Whoever is here, man, we’re going to coach the heck out of them,” Harris said. “The guys in the room that are in there right now are doing an excellent job. They’re bonding and the chemistry is forming.”

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