Bears training camp darlings who are already making an early impression heading into the first full week of practice

The Chicago Bears are heading into their first full week of training camp starting today after two strong opening sessions over the weekend.

For the most part, the battle between the offense and the defense continued to be a back and forth affair, but everyone seems to be impressed with how confident rookie quarterback Caleb Williams has commanded the offense since returning to camp.

Positional battles are set to continue all over the roster during the remainder of camp, but here are four players who are already making some strong early impressions.

WR Tyler Scott

The Bears second-year wide receiver started to turn into the forgotten man in the room after being behind DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, and Rome Odunze but has always been viewed as a lock for the roster as the fourth wide receiver.

During the two days of practice, Tyler Scott reminded everyone in attendance what he's capable of within this offense. Williams looked Scott's way on four separate deep ball attempts between the two sessions, one of which on Sunday resulted in a huge competition against starting cornerback Kyler Gordon. The other three passes ended up being incomplete (one broken up by Jaquan Brisker, one thrown out of bounds, and one thrown too short).

Nevertheless, Scott's downfield speed was on display during the opening weekend practice and it's nice to see his connection with Williams continue to develop. For a player who recorded just 168 yards during his rookie campaign, Scott is looking to make a more consistent impact during Year 2, even if his usage will be limited.

CB Tyrique Stevenson

Another player who had a fantastic performance on the field at Halas Hall on Sunday was another second-year standout in cornerback Tyrique Stevenson. After getting thrown into the fire during his rookie season starting opposite of Jaylon Johnson, Stevenson is looking a lot more comfortable in his starting role in the secondary.

On Sunday, it was Stevenson who ended the offensive drive during situational drills in a big way. The unit started on their own 30-yard with 1:10 left in the first half and on the fifth play of the drive, Stevenson broke on the football intended for Moore and came away with an interception. And the defense made sure to celebrate accordingly.

Stevenson was also seen getting some work mixing in at punt returner as well on Saturday with rookie wide receiver Rome Odunze out for the day.

DT Gervon Dexter Sr.

The offseason hype surrounding second-year defensive tackle Gervon Dexter Sr. appears to be warranted. While we weren't able to fully see the defensive linemen operate during OTAs and minicamp due to tight pass rushing restrictions, everyone still raved all summer about Dexter's physical transformation.

That's exactly the offseason goal he laid out for himself going into Year 2 and we're finally seeing it pay off on the practice field. Between the two days of practice, Dexter had two pass deflections against the team's rookie quarterback from the line of scrimmage. One was caught and advanced out of bounds by Williams and the other led to an incompletion during situational team drills, per Nicholas Moreano .

If Dexter can continue developing into the monster 3-tecnhnique that head coach Matt Eberflus envisions for his unit, the front can play at an even higher level in 2024 .

"He did the conditioning tests with the damn d-ends," defensive end Montez Sweat told reporters on Saturday . "When we was in the position meeting... they put a picture of him in a little beach suit, he had the shirt off and all that type of stuff. So, yeah, he definitely made a transformation with his body. But, I mean, I always expected big things out of Gervon. He's just waiting to blow [up]."

WR Dante Pettis

As for the players truly buried on the roster who needed to make an early impression in order to have a chance to make the 53-man roster, wide receiver Dante Pettis looked solid during the weekend.

According to Adam Jahns , backup quarterback Tyson Bagent hit Pettis twice on two deep throws during 7-on-7 drills and team period on Sunday. During Saturday's team period, Moreano also reported that Pettis caught another short completion.

Pettis is one of the wide receivers the Bears brought back in this offseason to compete for a potential sixth wide receiver spot on the roster. During the weekend, Pettis was also seen working in with the punt returners, which is still an open job and securing that role would go a long way toward Pettis' chance of making the team .

Related: Bears fill final roster spot by adding more depth at linebacker following the opening weekend of training camp