Ben Johnson Frustrated With Bears' Coaching Staff, Pass-Catchers Over Two 2025 Issues

While down at the NFL Annual League Meeting on Monday, Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson revealed one area apiece in which he thinks his coaching staff and players can improve in 2026.

According to ESPN's Courtney Cronin, Johnson didn't mince words about the staff's need to be better at coaching wide receivers to get open.

Johnson was also perturbed with the amount of drops Bears pass-catchers suffered in 2025 and stressed getting back to fundamentals to improve.

"Johnson isn't happy with the offensive staff for how they didn't coach WRs to get open enough," Cronin relayed. "Emphasized getting back to fundamentals in OTAs on catching the ball to address drop issues."

How bad were the Bears' drops last season?

Bringing in the football was definitely a problem for Bears pass-catchers in 2025.

In fact, the Bears tallied a total of 29 drops in the 2025 regular season, the fifth-most in the NFL, according to Pro Football Reference.

And that same issue also reared its ugly head in the team's playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams, a game decided by just three points in overtime.

The biggest offenders were running back Kyle Monangai and wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus, who tallied six and five, respectively. Of course, Zaccheaus is no longer in Chicago, and neither is DJ Moore, who posted three drops.

Wide receivers Luther Burden and Rome Odunze had four and two, respectively, and running back D'Andre Swift chipped-in with four of his own.

Tight ends Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet were better in that area, with Loveland finishing with just one drop, and Kmet with two.

It goes without saying Bears pass-catchers need to be better in that area, as their struggles hinder the offense and quarterback Caleb Williams, which makes Chicago's life more difficult.

What about separation?

There's definitely room for improvement in this category, also, but it is worth noting this issue isn't as glaring as the drops.

For reference, the league average for separation has fallen at anywhere between 2.8 to 3.6 yards since 2020.

According to Next Gen Stats, Burden had an average separation of 4.6 yards, which ranked first in the NFL. Loveland also managed to finish in the top 15, averaging 3.7 yards. Kmet wasn't far behind Loveland at 3.6 yards.

Meanwhile, Odunze just barely fell in range of the league average at three yards, but he was also not 100% for much of the season.