Wondering about a player, a past game or another issue involving the Bears? Senior writer Larry Mayer answers a variety of questions from fans on ChicagoBears.com.

How has Kevin White looked early in training camp?

Roger P.

Lemont, Illinois

Kevin White made several nice catches in Sunday's practice, including the play of the day when he hauled in a long pass from quarterback Mitchell Trubisky down the left sideline. Earlier in the rain-soaked practice, White caught shorter passes from Trubisky on the first two plays of a 7-on-7 drill. Here's what coach Matt Nagy recently had to say about the 2015 first-round pick, who is trying to get his career back on track after being plagued by injuries in his first three seasons with the Bears: "I like where he's at. He's continuing his arrow up. He's worked really hard to really just come out and perform and worry about nothing but Kevin White. Coach [Mike] Furrey has done a really good job with making sure that he understands that. We're not going to harp on anything that happens—a dropped ball, a route run the wrong way, a wrong split, a missed assignment. We don't harp on any of that with any of the players, and in particular with him. We just want him to be him and play fast, and he's done that so far. It's going to be up to him to do it in the preseason games and see where it takes him."

With so many players and coaches back on defense, there's obviously no new scheme to learn. So what's the main focus on that side of the ball in training camp?

Roy T.

Elkhart, Indiana

The defensive players I've spoken to in Bourbonnais have all talked about improving from last season and becoming a top-five unit in the NFL. (They ranked 10th in total yards allowed last year.) Another key area is generating more turnovers. The Bears doubled their total from a team record-low 11 in 2016 to 22 last year, which included an NFL-leading 14 recovered fumbles but only eight interceptions. Here's what cornerback Prince Amukamara had to say in training camp about forcing more turnovers: "It's all about just making the plays that you can. We have a saying in the defense room: You catch the balls that they throw to you. You catch the ones they throw to you and you'll lead the league in interceptions. I think it's just being opportunistic and just taking advantage of making those plays."

Did the Bears do any live tackling in their first practice in pads?

Joel B.

Oak Lawn, Illinois

No, the Bears did not do any live tackling in their first practice in pads Sunday. But coach Matt Nagy has vowed to conduct a physical camp with some live tackling drills. Here's what he had to say following Sunday's workout: "To put the pads on for everybody is good. It's a little different for them. We have a plan for when we're going to go live and it'll be coming up, but for today we just wanted to get them in a 'thud' period, get used to hitting and some of the contact and I think the guys handled it well."