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Bears sign safety Dillon Thieneman and center Logan Jones ahead of minicamp

LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — The Chicago Bears have signed safety Dillon Thieneman and center Logan Jones, their top two selections in this year’s NFL draft.

The team announced the deals on Friday. Tight end Sam Roush, a third-round selection out of Stanford, is the team’s only draft pick without a deal.

The Bears begin a mandatory three-day minicamp on Tuesday.

The 21-year-old Thieneman was the No. 25 pick overall, becoming the first defensive player taken in the first round by Chicago since linebacker Roquan Smith in 2018.

The 6-foot Thieneman played for Purdue for two years before transferring to Oregon last season. He earned first-team All-Big Ten honors and helped the Ducks go 13-2 while advancing to the College Football Playoff semifinals. He finished with 95 tackles and two interceptions.

The 24-year-old Jones was taken in the second round at No. 57 overall. Jones was a defensive lineman at Iowa before switching to offensive line and starting 51 games at center for the Hawkeyes. He won the 2025 Rimington Trophy as the top center in college football.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL

Deshaun Watson isn’t worried about how he’s perceived as he competes for Browns’ starting job

BEREA, Ohio (AP) — Deshaun Watson knows he can’t change the public perception of him or the results of his first four seasons with the Cleveland Browns. That’s why the embattled 10-year veteran quarterback is focusing on winning back the Browns' starting job, something that seemed unfathomable a year ago, when Watson was recovering from tearing Achilles tendon twice and it appeared he would never play for Cleveland again. “At the end of the day, I can’t control what people support. I think that’s their own opinion,” Watson said Wednesday, speaking to reporters for the first time in nearly two years. “I think that all I can do is just put out the best person I am, showcase who I am as a person, as a player, as a teammate, and what I represent as an individual. So outside of that, I can’t focus on what the outside is saying.” If Watson is named the starter for the Browns' opener on Sept. 13 at Jacksonville, it will be 693 days between starts. His last game was in Week 7 of the 2024 season against the Cincinnati Bengals, when he ruptured his right Achilles tendon during the second quarter on a draw play.
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