The Chicago Bears completed their first session of organized team activities this week at Halas Hall, with three days of practice offering an orientation to the experience under first-year coach Ben Johnson.
Wednesday’s practice was open to media and followed by news conferences with Johnson and four players. Before the Bears return to the field for another round of OTAs next week, here are five observations.
1. Ben Johnson’s intensity can be felt.
While Johnson solidified his reputation over the last three seasons as a play-calling mastermind with the Detroit Lions, his competitive fire burns white hot. Players on both sides of the ball are recognizing that and adapting to the tone.
“You want a coach who’s fired up,” linebacker Tremaine Edmunds said. “You want a coach with energy like that. And you want a coach who cares about winning and winning in a dominant fashion. I definitely feel that energy from him.”
Johnson has an edge that already is being felt in the way he gets after players when they are sloppy or make inexcusable mistakes. Asked by a reporter if his agitation Wednesday was heightened or more of his natural demeanor, Johnson smirked.
“You saw agitation today? Yeah, I thought that was normal,” he said. “I’ll work to get my body language under control. I’m talking about that with the players. So I need to do a better job myself. I’m on it.”
There was a tongue-in-cheek vibe to that last sentiment. Johnson isn’t about to apologize for his intensity. Nor should he if it continues to resonate.
“The standard is the standard,” veteran defensive tackle Grady Jarrett said. “What I can say is none of the coaches — him, (defensive coordinator Dennis Allen) — they’re not coming off of it. It’s our job as players to put our best foot forward every day to reach what’s expected of us. We’re never going to be perfect. But the strive to try to reach it? That can breed excellence.
“I’m excited for the standard he’s setting for everybody across the board. This isn’t a program where you try to be guys’ friends and hope they buy in. Nope, you have to get with it. I’ve been around for a long time and that’s the kind of culture you have to set early.”
Edmunds also sees Johnson’s intensity heightening the overall competitiveness.
“It brings a dog out of everybody, man,” he said. “And at the end of the day, a dog wants to play with a dog. You feel that energy. You feel that love from everybody. And, man, it’s going to make you step your game up for sure.”
2. Caleb Williams did not address reporters this week.
Barring a change of plans inside Halas Hall, Williams isn’t expected to field questions from the media during next week’s OTAs either.
Under normal circumstances, that might not elicit more than a shrug. But after excerpts from Seth Wickersham’s upcoming book, “American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback,” surfaced last week — with attention-grabbing details and pointed comments about Williams’ predraft reluctance in 2024 to join the Bears — a bit more damage control is needed to keep the embers from this mini-rumpus from reigniting.
At some point soon, Williams will offer his perspective on the matter. And when he does, the story will flare up in the national conversation again. For now the Bears seem willing to let the noise continue into June.
To Johnson’s credit, he hit the storyline head on Wednesday before being asked.
“It’s come to my attention that the quarterback has been out in the media over the last week,” Johnson said. “And just to get out in front of that a little bit, I just wanted to say I wasn’t here last year. So I can’t speak too much in terms of what it was like before he got here and when he got here last year.
“But from my four months on the job, he has been outstanding to work with and we are focusing on getting a little better every day.”
Sure, Williams’ reservations about joining the Bears in the winter and spring of 2024 might qualify as yesterday’s news. But they do have present-day relevance as he works to facilitate a successful reboot under Johnson.
To that end, Johnson’s ability to build trust and gain full buy-in from Williams remains a top priority for the rest of the offseason program and into training camp.
“It starts with developing a rapport and a trust,” Johnson said. “And that’s earned over time. You don’t walk in Day 1 and expect that to be achieved. So the more time we spend together (the better). He understands I have his best interests at heart and vice versa.
“He’s going to go out there and play as well as he possibly can — not just for himself or for me but for the whole team and the city. That’s really what it comes down to. So we’re very much aligned in terms of what we want to get done. It just takes more time on task in terms of getting on the same page with how we’re going to do it.”
Several defensive players addressed and downplayed the storyline. But the voice that’s needed to bring full closure is Williams’. And he might not be back at the lectern until the Bears wrap up their mandatory minicamp in two weeks.
3. The tush push has been a hot topic for months.
A Green Bay Packers-led proposal to ban the short-yardage play the Philadelphia Eagles mastered over the last several years was defeated Wednesday at the NFL’s spring meetings in Minnesota.
At least 24 of the 32 teams had to be in lockstep with the proscription, and the vote fell just short with 10 teams reportedly opposing the ban.
Still, that means more than two-thirds of teams were in favor of prohibiting the play, predominantly citing potential safety concerns. That should make for an interesting 2025 season.
Bears Chairman George McCaskey explained at the owners meetings in March his team’s vote to ban the play. McCaskey cited worries he had heard in committee meetings from NFL Chief Medical Officer Alan Sills and Dr. John York that the dangers of the play were real and concerning.
“I know they say we don’t have sufficient injury data on it,” McCaskey said. “But, to us, it appears to be an inherently unsafe play.”
Those sentiments, however, haven’t been unanimous inside Halas Hall since the conversation began. There has been pushback from some who believe the competitive advantage the Eagles and other teams have gained from mastering the play should be stopped on the field and not in the rulebook.
Johnson and Jarrett expressed their views on the play Wednesday.
Johnson: not a fan.
“Man, I tell you what,” he said. “Does it become an explosive play ever? Have you ever seen it become an explosive play? I like explosive plays. I like big plays. I’m not a big tush push guy myself.”
Jarrett, meanwhile, offered his thoughts as a defensive tackle who has found himself in the middle of such scrums in recent years. He said he has not felt endangered.
“I don’t think anybody has gotten (seriously) hurt yet,” Jarrett said. “That would (create) a legit argument. But I don’t think anybody is getting hurt.
“It’s a compromised position that guys are down in. You’ve just got to do what you’ve got to do. Can’t cry over something you can’t change.”
Scheduling note: The Bears will play the Eagles on Nov. 28, with Johnson and Allen needing to find ways to stop the play while it still exists.
“It’s been stopped before,” Jarrett added. “Not at a high rate. But don’t let them get to third-and-1, fourth-and-1. Then you know what’s coming. I’ve played Philly a lot of times. They are a tough group. They have a combination of players and the quarterback who make it successful. At the end of the day, the rules are the rules. You have to find a way to stop it.”
4. A potential Year 2 jump from Rome Odunze will be worth tracking.
Odunze, who had 54 catches, 734 yards and three touchdowns as a rookie last season, has quickly caught the attention of his new coaches at Halas Hall. Last month, receivers coach Antwaan Randle El spoke highly of Odunze’s upside and eagerness to learn.
On Wednesday, Johnson highlighted Odunze’s impressive consistency, particularly at this stage of his career.
“The way he approaches the meeting room, the walk-throughs, the drill work, it’s very much like a seasoned pro,” Johnson said. “(Like) some of the best that I’ve been around. And he’s still learning.
“I know there’s a lot of information getting thrown his way. Coach Randle El is doing a great job with him right now. We’re going to see a lot of growth from him, not just in the spring time but in the camp.”
Odunze prides himself on his reliability and has expressed eagerness to contribute to an offense he believes has great potential. For his part, the receiver is pushing to become more detailed across the board.
“It’s homing in on all the different things that come with wide receiver play,” Odunze said in April. “That includes blocking. That includes knowing the scheme in the run game, being violent at the point of attack. It’s route running, catching, contested catches — all those different things in the envelope of what wide receiver play is. I’m looking to home in on all those different things matched to this scheme.”
5. The door is open for NFL players to play Olympic flag football.
That competition is still a long way off obviously. But after a vote this week, NFL teams have opened the door for players to join the Olympic ranks in flag football, which will become an Olympic event for the first time in 2028 in Los Angeles.
The league’s push to continue growing the sport globally created momentum for the decision, with Commissioner Roger Goodell also emphasizing what he labeled “a tremendous amount of excitement among NFL players interested in the chance to compete for their country on the world stage.”
The men’s Olympic flag football five-on-five competition in 2028 will feature six teams of 10 players each. And while only one player per NFL team would be allowed to participate, there would be a bit of a timing conflict with the Olympics being held from July 14-30 just as NFL training camps are starting.
Bears safety Kevin Byard, now 31 and headed for his 10th NFL season, joked that the flag football opportunity might have been something he would have raced toward five years ago. But now? Not so much.
“Hey, if I didn’t have as many as kids as I have …” Byard said with a laugh. “You know what I mean? I’ve got a lot of responsibilities during the summer.”
Byard acknowledged that for those lucky enough to be selected for the Olympic flag football team, it would be a “blessing” and “an enormous opportunity.” He even offered an endorsement of one of his teammates.
“I think we’ve got a lot of guys on our team who probably can do it,” he said. “Shoot. I’m not sure he’s going to want to do it. But I think Caleb would be an excellent flag football team quarterback — especially with the broken plays, being able to scramble around and do those type of things.”
Insert thinking emoji here.
