Bears head coach Ben Johnson sounds alarm on offense after harsh reality check
The Chicago Bears are entering the first year of the Ben Johnson era—a hire widely seen as a great move. However, the team has been struggling during training camp with organizing practices and executing effectively. When Johnson was hired, Bears GM Ryan Poles had nothing but praise for the new head coach.
'Throughout our search process, I was thoroughly impressed by Ben's character, intelligence, leadership and ability to connect. A progressive offensive mind, Ben's plan for all three phases of our team, which is centered on creating a winning and competitive environment, became evidently clear. Meeting with Ben and gaining an understanding of his process and vision, the more confident we became that Ben is the right leader for our team and that he and I will be great partners in building our team and shaping our franchise for long-term success,' Poles said.
Rookie wide receiver Luther Burden has been having difficulty grasping the offense. Anytime he lines up incorrectly, Johnson makes the entire team reset and line up again until they get it right.
The offense overall hasn't performed well, and Johnson has acknowledged that adjustments are needed.
'Yeah, it's something that we're going to have to address, for sure," Johnson said. "It showed up more today than it has in practice. This was more like a real game, and if it continues like that, we're not going to win many games."
On Sunday, Johnson gave a blunt assessment of the offense's current state.
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'It was sloppy, sloppier than we were hoping we would be at this point,' Johnson said, via the team's website. 'We had a couple really good practices over the last two and then took us a little while to get going and hear the pads clicking. I thought toward the end we picked it up and it got pretty competitive there.'
There's confidence that the Bears are in good hands with Johnson at the helm. However, the team still needs to fully grasp the head coach's philosophy. Until that mental and strategic alignment happens, things could continue to look rough.
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