Last offseason, Ben Johnson had to stop practice to bark at quarterback Caleb Williams and the rest of the Bears offense before they even broke the huddle. The way the Bears operated before the snap disturbed the head coach as much as what happened after it.
Not so much this year.
When the Bears held their first practice of their two-week-long OTA Wednesday, Williams knew what Johnson wanted: a quick play call, a huddle broken with urgency and confidence under center.
“The communication in the huddle, what it looks like to break the huddle, the urgency to the line of scrimmage, the tempo that we want to stress the defense with, the quarterback plays a huge part in that,” Johnson said Thursday before the Bears’ second practice. “He orchestrates the whole operation. And those guys have taken that to heart and so from that aspect, feel really good about where we’re at.
“Now, it’s the next level of each concept. ‘What are we trying to do?’ And potentially expanding on, ‘Hey, here’s your progression, 1, 2, 3,’ to how can we accelerate our eyes, our vision? What are we looking for? Some coverage indicators to where we might take more alerts.”
Having the time to focus on the next level of the Bears’ offense is another benefit of continuity.
“Everyone knows what the expectations are in the building, what meetings look like …” Johnson said. “There’s just a different level of, I don’t want to say comfort, but they know. They know what it’s supposed to look like.”
The Bears lost their offensive coordinator this offseason, but not the play-caller who doubles as their head coach. That’s good news for Johnson — and for Williams.
“I know our quarterback room is at a different place than it was a year ago,” Johnson said.
Attendance report
Defensive end Montez Sweat was the most notable player absent from Thursday’s volunteer OTA practice. Cornerback Kyler Gordon participated in warmups but not in drills.
Cornerback Jaylon Johnson, who missed voluntary work earlier this month — and has done the same in the past — was in attendance.
“[It’s a] voluntary program, so everyone’s got different ways they want to go about their business, but I appreciate [Johnson] being here now with his teammates and getting to know them,” Ben Johnson said. “We have a lot of new faces in the building, so you can’t overstate the importance of that. It’s just getting to know your buddy, because you’re going to lay it out on the line for him on game day, and so that’s what we’re looking to do right now.”
Asked how the veteran cornerback looked after being injured most of last season with groin problems, the coach was brief.
“He just got here, so I don’t know,” he said before practice. “We’ll find out.”
Notes
• Defensive tackle Grady Jarrett said that “I owe Chicago a better year” after being hampered by a knee injury early last season.
• Four injured veterans — defensive linemen Dayo Odeyingbo (Achilles) and Shemar Turner (knee) and linebackers T.J. Edwards (leg) and Noah Sewell (Achilles) — did not practice. Rookie cornerback Malik Muhammad wasn’t spotted, either.
• Safety Dillon Thieneman, the Bears’ first round pick last month, did not participate with the first team in either of the first two practice days. That’s standard for first-year players, though Thieneman is expected to start in Week 1.
• Illinois football coach Bret Bielema watched individual workouts alongside Ben Johnson at the start of practice. Appalachian State assistant head coach Clyde Christensen, the Dolphins’ offensive coordinator when Johnson was a young assistant, stood with players and watched drills, too.
It’s fourth down and the clock is ticking in Springfield, but Buckner is confident that lawmakers will “find a deal that works to keep the Bears in the state of Illinois” and prevent Chicago’s NFL franchise from accepting a more lucrative offer from Indiana.
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