Bears' HC Ben Johnson is already holding DJ Moore accountable for his body language and actions well before the season begins
As the Chicago Bears prepare for the 2025 season under new head coach Ben Johnson, one of the big points of emphasis has been about turning the page.What happened in 2024 whether good, bad, or indifferent no longer applies.This staff is looking to bring out the best in the players on this roster and make […]
As the Chicago Bears prepare for the 2025 season under new head coach Ben Johnson, one of the big points of emphasis has been about turning the page.
What happened in 2024 whether good, bad, or indifferent no longer applies.
This staff is looking to bring out the best in the players on this roster and make sure every member is striving for perfection.
One of the things Johnson brought up about aiming to fix last week during organized team activities was the body language players showed during the 2024 season and how he planned to address those concerns from happening again with his players.
"Body language is a huge thing," Johnson explained. "Demeanor. We don't want to be a palms-up team where we're questioning everything…. To me that's a little bit of a sign of weakness. We don't want to exhibit that from anybody on the team."
It wasn't just one player, even though Johnson was specifically asked about quarterback Caleb Williams and wide receiver DJ Moore. Johnson made sure to send that message to anyone in the locker room, and how that level of expectation starts immediately.
Already some players are being held in check well before the season starts.
"I did it once [this spring] and then we nipped it in the butt," Moore explained. "And it's never happened again."
With Moore, especially, the body language issue was a recurring trend during the regular season last year and something that was caught multiple times on TV, which obviously led to overblown stories in the media.
"The whole year it was just my body language, facial expressions, I mean I was just having fun with it," Moore explained in February. "At points in the season where it was like 'Alright this is getting to a serious point where people are really hating me over this' I didn't really care, but that's not who I am. I'm playing this game to the fullest to win and however the reaction is, that's how the reaction is."
With the new coaching staff coming in, they don't feel the same way. Having negative emotions and reactions isn't something that's going to be tolerated. Whether that's on the field during a game or not.
"Just don't do it," Moore explained about the conversations he's had with Johnson. "Just keep it inside and we can talk about it later. Don't put it on film, don't put it on TV."
That's the right expectation to have out of your players and another example of how the accountability will look differently for this team and staff in 2025.
