As the Chicago Bears enjoy their bye in Week 10, they are also at the midway point of the 2026 season, so it's a perfect time to reflect on what has transpired through nine games.

As a whole, the Bears are having a great season. Chicago sits in first place in the NFC North at 7-2 and has looked like one of the very best teams in the NFL, and the Bears have seen Caleb Williams take the step forward they were looking for.

However, not everyone has lived up to the hype in 2026.

With that in mind, here's the five Bears players who have been the most disappointing going into the bye.

Jaylon Johnson

Johnson's struggles date back to last season, but the belief was that those struggles were a result of him not being 100%.

So, there was renewed hope for him in 2026, especially after he put together a strong training camp. But, through nine games, Johnson looks like a shell of the player who was formerly considered an elite cornerback in the NFL.

Johnson is giving up a completion rate of 67.4% and a passer rating of 107.5, and there has been multiple occasions where Johnson's tackling has left a lot to be desired, to put it nicely. Johnson's 23.7% missed tackle rate is the highest of his NFL career.

There is hope after his last game, though. Johnson enjoyed his best showing in coverage in Week 9 after giving up a completion rate of 20% and a 0.0 passer rating, per Pro Football Focus, and Johnson recorded a clutch pick-six that might have saved the game for Chicago.

The Bears can only hope that performance will be a turning point for Johnson, who is hugely important to Chicago's defensive success the rest of the way.

If the Bears cornerback doesn't rebound in a big way in the second half of the season, he's likely going to be cut in the offseason.

Jordan van den Berg

We normally wouldn't have had high expectations for a sixth-round pick like van den Berg, but after he had a strong preseason and was one of the reasons why the team felt comfortable trading Gervon Dexter, expectations rose significantly.

Since then, van den Berg has not lived up to the hype. The rookie has notched overall and run defense grades of 39.2 and 42.1, and he has been a non-factor in the pass-rush with just one pressure.

The Georgia Tech product's playing time has decreased, also, with van den Berg seeing no more than 11 snaps since he played 22 in Week 1. And, since those 11 snaps, van den Berg has played eight, five and three snaps in each of his last three games, and he was a healthy scratch in Week 8.

Now with Jeffery Simmons in the mix, van den Berg's opportunities to see the field have taken another hit.

Rome Odunze

Odunze entered the season with a loose grip on the No. 1 receiver title going into the season, but he has since lost that to Luther Burden, who has been better in 2026.

Drops have been an issue for Odunze, who has three through nine games, which is one more than he had in 12 last season. Two of those drops were egregious ones in the end zone.

We wanted to see Odunze become more consistent and cement himself as the No. 1 wide receiver the Bears thought they were getting when they drafted him No. 9 overall in 2024.

Instead, Odunze has been inconsistent and is on pace to fall just short of 1,000 yards.

Colston Loveland

After his impressive second half of last season, we had Loveland pegged for superstardom. Instead, the second-year tight end has been disappointing and is actually on pace to finish with less receiving yards than he had in 2025.

One problem has been Caleb Williams simply not seeing him open on several occasions this season. But the other issue has been drops, with Loveland notching four through nine games. The Michigan product had just one last season.

Loveland has been more consistent of late, with 54 or more yards in each of his last four games and two touchdowns in that span, but he still hasn't posted more than 69 yards in any game and that's well below expectations.

Montez Sweat

Sweat had one of his most productive seasons in 2025, when he tallied 10 sacks. Through seven games this season, Sweat has three, which puts him on pace to finish with about seven.

Aside from his disappointing sack production in 2026, Sweat also got himself suspended for two games for violating the league's performance-enhancing drugs policy.

One reason to be optimistic for Sweat the rest of the way is the addition of Simmons, who is drawing a ton of attention that is freeing his teammates up for more one-on-ones.

While that takes more pressure off Sweat on a snap-by-snap basis, it also increases expectations because Sweat should be taking advantage of the Simmons effect en route to more sacks.