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Roschon Johnson's Statement Game Might Have Been Only Bears Positive

The veteran seems to be zeroing in on the third back job but the Bears had little else to be happy about their effort in Cincinnati, whether from the game or practice.
Gene Chamberlain|
Running back Roschon Johnson looks for an opening Saturday against the Bengals.
Running back Roschon Johnson looks for an opening Saturday against the Bengals. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

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Chicago Bears

The seeds for a miserable second preseason performance against Cincinnati might have been planted during Thursday's joint practice.

It wasn't the ending when Caleb Williams had a pass batted and picked off by Bengals monstrosity Dexter Lawrence. Rather, it was the very first play of that practice.

"First play we had a fumbled snap," Williams recalled. =

It was worse than that.

"The first seven snaps of that practice we had three procedure issues," coach Ben Johnson said. "That QB-center exchange or not getting off the ball at the same time, we talked all week about starting fast and wanting to start the practice fast and that didn't quite translate."

The game Saturday night was marred by 11 Bears penalties for 81 yards and sloppy play overall, which helped explained a 27-9 loss.

"The penalties on both sides of the ball, they hurt us in the first half and we weren't able to get those cleaned up," Johnson said. "There in the second half, 11 for the game, 2-of-14 on third down on offense and allowed 6 of 13 on defense."

The Bears were supposed to be past these kinds of spring football snafus. They keep saying during the week they've fixed it. They keep having the occasional Garrett Bradbury-and-Williams poor center exchange or players jumping.

Does it all go back to their change at the center position? It's easy to think this but it's more a case of too much change on a regular basis, not a center change after Drew Dalman retired. They're rarely playing on either side of the ball with the same group because of players leaving with injuries.

The running back situation on Saturday was third back getting the majority of first-half plays because they sat D'Andre Swift and because Kyle Monangai is injured. The left tackle situation was someone different every week of camp, with Braxton Jones finally settling in more healthy on Saturday but struggling.

Roschon Johnson the real positive

Here was one of the few positives Johnson could point to, and it wasn't much. At least it could provide clarity to the running back battle at camp. Johnson finished with 42 yards on 12 carries, only a 3.5-yard average, but he was called on for a handful of short-yardage sitations. Johnson had said he likes big plays and not just advancing the chains. On Saturday, he was happy just to take the chains moving because it meant their penalties weren't destroying the offense.

"I think he flashed the other day," Johnson said of Roschon Johnson's first preseason effort "Like, particularly on special teams, and we keep talking about that and the importance of being the No. 3 running back on the depth (chart), in the running back room, and being able to bring that to the table.

"He had a couple of really nice plays in the practice (Thursday). Can't wait to see what it looked like today on the game tape because we talked about we would love to see some of these players stack good performances back to back to back, and he's a candidate who may have done that tonight."

So, this might have been the lone positive point coming from a trip to Cincinnati. They might know now who their third running back will be.Same as it ever was.

Perhaps this week they'll have receiver Zavion Thomas back. It's not going to solve their left tackle issue, where Braxton Jones continues to have some problems but the others have bigger issues.

Taking all of these into account, the Bears can put up with a few bad snaps in practice now and then. The center-and-quarterback exchanges have actually been rated high for stability when you compare it to the left tackle situation.

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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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