‘You gotta earn what you get on gameday’ — Ben Johnson’s words capture the competitive and unpredictable nature of the new Bears offense
There’s no handouts on this team.
Trust is not a word Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson uses lightly and as the team approaches Week 1 of the regular season, we still have no idea what this new offense will truly look like or which players will be used as top weapons.
The team’s new head coach and play-caller has made it known since Day 1 that there are no handouts on this team, if you want a spot in this offense, you gotta earn it. And that doesn’t just go for training camp, it goes for every single day and every single week going forward.
“There’s the beautiful thing about competition,” Johnson explained on Wednesday. “Each week, you gotta earn what you get on gameday. That’s exactly how we set this up. That was (general manager Ryan Poles) and my vision in terms of acquiring all this talent.”
That doesn’t just mean positionally either. With multiple WR, TE, and RB options on this roster, players will be competing amongst various positions for playing time this fall.
“We’ll do whatever’s best for the team, #1, to help us win games. But, those guys that want the ball, they gotta earn it,” Johnson added.
When prioritizing which players to make “primary” weapons in this offense, Johnson noted back in the spring he’s looking to see what players do when the ball is not in their hands. Are they running hard routes? Are they blocking for their teammates? All of those little things are critical in this offense.
Looking at all the potential options, Johnson has mentioned four pass catchers as players he’s been able to trust in DJ Moore, Rome Odunze, Olamide Zaccheaus, and Cole Kmet. As for rookies Colston Loveland, Luther Burden III, and Kyle Monangai, trust can only be earned with more reps.
“Trust is a strong word. I don’t know if I can say that yet for those three guys,” Johnson explained. “I think we’re trending the right direction. I’ll be curious to see what the tape says because that will go a long way in building that trust.”
Just because Johnson trusts certain players now, doesn’t mean adjustments can be made down the road based on how players are looking week to week. And that’s what makes this offense so exciting to look forward to.
It’s truly going to be an unpredictable offense for opposing defense to go against on a week-to-week basis, which is why the coaches have been loading up the offensive players all summer long.
“It’s been a little overwhelming for some particular players,” Johnson said. “I think guys are starting to get a little better feel for it and they’re settling in. This has been the plan from the get-go is that, we don’t know who we’re going to be on offense. By design, we gave a lot so we can determine what we want to do and which direction we want to go.”
Now into Preseason Week 2, Johnson added that the offense is now at the point where they can start honing in on specific alignments and designs, but everything they’ve learned thus far will still be on the table come regular season.
All of this helps put the best 11 players on the field any given week and create game-specific plans to take advantage of any defense this unit goes up against. And it keeps everyone on their toes.
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