Bear Digest

Ben Johnson tries sweating the bad out of his Chicago Bears

Citing poor practice habits, Bears coach Ben Johnson decided it was time to turn up the heat on his team during Wednesday's preparation for Dallas.
Gene Chamberlain|
Caleb Williams is greeted by Jared Goff Sunday after the Bears' second straight loss, this one in blowout fashion.
Caleb Williams is greeted by Jared Goff Sunday after the Bears' second straight loss, this one in blowout fashion. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

They've got that much going for them, which is nice, to quote Bill Murray–not the former Bears guard but the comedic actor.

Bears coach Ben Johnson made it clear after Sunday's loss, then again Monday and Wednesday that the heat would be turned up on his team after what he viewed as incorrect practice habits.

“I think our practice habits are yet to reflect a championship-caliber team," Johnson said bluntly on Wednesday.

So they had a very tough Wednesday practice and quarterback Caleb Williams said they needed it.

"Obviously when you have the kind of setbacks that we've had being, being 0-2 at the point where we're at, you can't keep doing the same thing over and over and think something's going to change. That’s the definition for insanity," Williams said. "We’ve got to change.

"Today’s practice was I think a step in the right direction.”

Media is shut out of practice after stretching and a few warmups but the players all described it afterward the way Williams did when he said they wouldn't be doing the same thing over and over.

"It was a good practice, it was definitely a practice we needed," tight end Colston Loveland said. "It was a long one. It was good. Competition, it was what we needed. It looked good as far as finishing, running to the ball, all that."

Cornerback Tyrique Stevenson has a 153.3 passer rating against when targeted, according to Stathead/Pro Football Reference and that's almost as bad as it gets.

"We’re going to be playing our best football in in December. I know that to be certain."
Ben Johnson

He agreed with Johnson's summation

"We've just got to create better practice habits to be a champion around here," Stevenson said.

As for Wednesday's practice, the defense felt it as much as the offense.

"We definitely went out there and strained, was out there for a long time but definitely enjoyed it," Stevenson said. "The guys came back with a great mindset, I feel like we had a great mindset. All we can do is put our head down and move forward and make sure that nothing like this can ever happen again."

"This" was Sunday's 52-21 embarrassment at Detroit.

"Shout out to him for calling us out and making sure that we stand up to the level of standard, and the level of want-to that we need around here," Stevenson added.

An 0-2 start puts the Bears on the precipice of a longer losing streak. They suffered two of those under Matt Eberflus. And even though they ended one in the season finale against Green Bay, they have now lost 12 of their last 13.

"I mean, it's like I said, it's two games into the season," linebacker Tremaine Edmunds said. "You can't write your narrative of the whole season two games in. Obviously it's games that we want to win. We don't want it to be that way, but at the same time we’ve got to learn from the games and learn from the losses, and learn from all the bad stuff that happens.

"But we’ve still got the whole season in front of us. We’ve just got to deal with it the right way. And I think the way that we came out at practice today, guys wasn't complaining, guys was showing up ready to work. You can kind of feel that that pissed-off attitude, just as far as, like, ‘Nah, we know we shouldn't be here.’ Just kind of upset with how everything's been, but not really looking in the past, worried about this–we've been worried about getting a win this week."

Johnson sounded a bit more positive about the team overall than his one-sentence answer to one question about practices did.

"They understand that it is early in the season," Johnson said. "There are a number of teams that have started the season not the way that they would like to, and yet they bounce back and they find a way to win.

"We’re going to be playing our best football in in December. I know that to be certain. We're just in a race right now to get better in a hurry. The faster we get there, the wins will start coming and we'll be just fine.”

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.