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Ben Johnson's Bears Year 2 Reboot Worked and Even Went a Bit Too Far

The message Ben Johnson had about starting over in his second season hit home with players and coaches but this restart could still use one good jolt.
Gene Chamberlain|
Ben Johnson told players to be prepared to start over again in OTAs and the attitude seems to have permeated the roster.
Ben Johnson told players to be prepared to start over again in OTAs and the attitude seems to have permeated the roster. | David Banks-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

Only seven of the 28 teams who went from last place to winning their division in this century made the playoffs the following year, so the Bears are up against it right away as spring work unfolds.

The odds look as steep against them getting to a playoff berth again based simply on precedent, without even breaking down how they failed to add an outside pass rush or improve a dangerous left tackle situation caused by Ozzy Trapilo’s playoff  knee injury.

Perhaps the most refreshing thing heard so far at Bears OTAs, though, is a lack of concern about where they exited last year. The tone was set by Ben Johnson back in his season-ending press conference for 2025 when he said they start all over. Players remember this, and have no doubt been warned about wistful recall of their dramatic late-season and playoff victories.

"We start all over," receiver Luther Burden said. "We ain’t thinking about last year. New opportunity, that’s how I look at it. What we did last year was last year. Whole new season, whole new opportunity — one that I’m excited for just build off of it.

“It was a good year last year. I’m not going to downplay it at all, but it’s over with. We’ve got to do more.”

Saying this is one thing, living it is another. 

Avoiding total recall

In truth, coaching and personnel already treated it that way when they went into the offseason and let go of leaders who meant the world to the last playoff run, like DJ Moore, Kevin Byard, and Tremaine Edmunds.

Johnson and defensive coordinator Dennis Allen started this themselves by talking about a different 2026 coaching approach. They feel better about coaching fundamentals right now in the offseason than last year at this time because last year they were working against the clock just to get the offense and defense installed and understood. This part is already known by most players, so coaches are able to actually coach basic football.

They retain enough veterans with the right attitude about taking coaching at that level so fundamentals won't be boring. Defensive tackle Grady Jarrett reflected this attitude and noticed the change in approach Johnson had mentioned.

"Yeah, you could feel it from Day 1, Day 1 of this program we started," Jarrett said. "We really, really took it to the basics, and I think it's been super helpful. It's helping, helping us. We can see the progress of it on the field already with just two practices and it's just the way we speak to each other, speak through what's expected, the details of whether it's stance or finishing at the ball how we need to.

"We're breaking it down and we definitely letting the standard know early what's expected."

Normally veterans like Jarrett could be expected to gloss over routine stuff but that's not the case.

"Like, you always have to be coachable," Jarrett said. "You always got to be able to make adjustments. Because ... I just think whenever you see people who are the best at what they do, they’re always trying to get better man. That’s why you see guys like LeBron James playing 23 years, working our year-round; Derek Jeter played for however long he did, always looking at the small things."

While Johnson has talked early and often about turning the page, he also realizes last year left them starting now at a better point even if results of last year on the field are now to be ignored.

A better starting point for fundamentals

"Everyone knows what the expectations are in the building, what meetings look like," Johnson said. "We talked about that. Meetings, walkthrough, practice. It's noticeable to me just Day 1 of OTAs. The guys that were here last year versus the new guys to the program, whether they're rookies or free agents, there's just a different level of — I don't want to say comfort, but they know what it's supposed to look like.

"So that's a good thing. We can hit the ground running a little bit from an offensive perspective. You certainly see a lot of guys picking up where they left off."

The place where this is most evident to Johnson is a pretty important area.

"I know our quarterback room is at a different place than it was a year ago," Johnson said. "Our route runners certainly feel that way from how we do routes on air to what it looks like in a team setting. O-line, those coaches do a phenomenal job with those guys, same thing there. You see that guys aren't thinking quite as much. They're able to play faster.

"Defensively , you see the same thing going on. I feel strongly about how we're coaching them. We went back to the fundamentals on all three levels of our defense and that showed up yesterday. We're off to a good start. We'll see what the rest of the way looks like.”

Much can occur to slow down fast starts, but that happens when the season begins or if they incur offseason injuries.

For now, the Bears have started their on-field work in the spot mentally, physically, and emotionally where Johnson wanted them at when last year's run ended.

If you're going to be part of the 25% who get back to the playoffs after a worst-to-first run, it would be difficult to be in a better spot.

The only better way might be if they had another pass rusher, because they had practice squad player Jamree Kromah lining up with starters at Thursday's practice without Montez Sweat attending and with Dayo Odeyingbo rehabbing from Achilles surgery.

When Johnson said they had to get back to square one, they went beyond that point at edge rusher. Last year everyone knew where they intended the rush to come from even if it didn't. At least last year when they started out they had experienced, healthy players manning the edge spot.

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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.

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