Caleb Williams and other players weigh in on how the first day of the offseason program went under head coach Ben Johnson
The first day of offseason workouts is in the books for the Chicago Bears after the returning and new players arrived back to the facilities on Monday.Yesterday marked the first day many of the players in the locker room met head coach Ben Johnson and the rest of the new coaching staff coming into the […]
The first day of offseason workouts is in the books for the Chicago Bears after the returning and new players arrived back to the facilities on Monday.
Yesterday marked the first day many of the players in the locker room met head coach Ben Johnson and the rest of the new coaching staff coming into the building.
During the NFL League meetings last week, Johnson mentioned that his message for the players on Day 1 centered around moving on from what happened last year but the rest of the message was still a work in progress.
“I haven’t totally formulated what that presentation is going to look like quite yet,” he said last week. “I tend to like to procrastinate just a little bit. That’s where the best work tends to come out. So I’ll figure that out over the weekend.”
On Monday night and into the press conferences on Tuesday, we got the first reactions from the players on how that first day went with their new head coach.
"Our first meeting was great," safety Kevin Byard said via ChicagoBears.com. "He brought a lot of energy. He's brought an excitement to this city and this team."
In terms of turning the page from last season and setting the new standard, Johnson seemingly got a fast start in sending that across to the players.
"He jumped out there and said a bunch of do's and a bunch of don'ts," quarterback Caleb Williams explained. "Set a precedent of what we're going to be like as a team, finding our our identity and all of that. So, we're excited."
One of the biggest complaints from the players regarding the coaching staff last season was the lack of accountability. And getting in coaches who stressed accountability and showing it the right way was clearly one of the preferred traits many players wanted the organization to prioritize in the new coaching staff.
"If you see it, call it out," cornerback Jaylon Johnson said about the accountability expectations. "I think that's the biggest thing for me. Accountability isn't just talking but about actions and changing certain things… If you see something, say something, and then if it's not getting fixed, you got to do so. To me, that's what accountability is."
The other aspect the players stressed on Tuesday speaking with the media is the importance of winning. For veterans like Johnson who have been in Chicago for years now, they're tired of starting the season out quick only to crash and burn.
Under Ben Johnson and the rest of the staff, the players don't just want to win, they want to be the team that is dominating opponents consistently for once, and they seemed to have received a similar message from their head coach.
"This guy [doesn't] just want to win, [he] wants to win by a lot," linebacker Tremaine Edmunds explained. "We want to dominate. That's important. That talks about his mentality, talks about his mindset. We're going to be the best that we can be."
This week is only the first few days of a long process to come before achieving all these desires. But, it seems to be a successful start to the Ben Johnson Era.
