Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze reveal the ruthless Ben Johnson mentality that quickly won over the Bears locker room
Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams and wide receiver Rome Odunze joined Cam Newton on the 4th&1 show and couldn’t stop praising the mentality head coach Ben Johnson brought to the locker room.
It’s no secret that the hiring of head coach Ben Johnson sent a jolt directly through the Chicago Bears franchise as soon as he entered the building and took his place on the big chair.
The Bears needed someone that could bring out the best in quarterback Caleb Williams and found a way to lure in the top offensive mind available. But, Johnson was more than a top offensive mind. He was a straight up madman and the kind of intense leader no one expected, but it was absolutely needed.
After one year working with Johnson, Williams and wide receiver Rome Odunze joined the 4th&1 with Cam Newton show back during the Madden NFL 27 reveal and added more insight on Johnson’s intensity.
Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze explain how intense Ben Johnson actually is as a head coach
“He’s just a dawg,” Williams explained of Johnson. “That’s what he is. And he has that mentality. Often times, it feels like we’re looking into a mirror. Because when those moments come up, I know he has all faith in me and he knows I got all faith in him. We’ll be talking and he’s like “I want to whoop their (expletive) by 50′ and you can see it.
“Some people may say that, but it’s not them. But like, him, it’s true. He really feels that in his heart. It’s nice having a coach like that. When you get up by 21, it’s like [he wants] 28, 35, 42. That’s what’s fun about playing for him.”
This isn’t entirely new information about how Johnson operates. Last year during the offseason program, that was the message Johnson was sending to his players. He didn’t want to win games, he wanted to dominate his opponents. It didn’t matter if you won, it mattered how much you won by. And the players clearly bought into that mindset.
“I personally love it as a player,” Odunze added. “I love a coach that brings that sort of passion and energy, doesn’t shy away. He’s like, we don’t like them and we’re going to go whoop they (expletive). That’s his mindset when it comes to our rival in Green Bay and I feed off of that energy for sure. He does a great job keeping it poised when it needs to be poised and when he needs to spark that energy he sparks the energy.”
Johnson’s repeated call outs aimed at the Green Bay Packers was a great example Odunze brought up. It was never anything personal about a coach or a player, he simply hated the team and needed that message to be replicated by his players. It wasn’t just Green Bay either, that was just the one that caught the headlines.
Yet, the only game Chicago really dominated was Week 15 against the Cleveland Browns, a 31-3 win at Soldier Field against a team that entered the game 3-10. If Johnson’ wants his intense mentality to continue being a rallying cry to his players, the Bears need to start whooping on some better teams in Year 2.