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The Chicago Bears have a new sense of energy surrounding them, and maybe because of head coach Ben Johnson, who is looking to get the best out of all of his players. In their first preseason game against the Miami Dolphins, the starters did not play, but that didn't mean that the message was any different from Johnson. Tyson Bagent was the quarterback in the first half, and after the game, he shared what Johnson told the team beforehand, according to Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times.
“The game doesn’t count,” Bagent recalled Johnson saying. “But the game matters.”
It was obvious it mattered to Johnson, because on a fourth and goal situation in the second quarter, he was seen being animated on the sideline trying to get the play in to Bagent. The quarterback recalled the moment of what Johnson was saying to him.
“Probably something like, ‘We’re going for it,’ ’’ Bagent said. “And throw in a couple of filler words there.”
Bagent connected with Maurice Alexander in the back of the end zone for a touchdown to tie the game at 7.
“I was told today was Family Day, and so we had a lot of kids,” Johnson said. “It’s probably a good thing they couldn’t hear me on the sideline.”
Will the Bears play their starters in the preseason?
Caleb Williams did not play in the first preseason game for the Bears, but Johnson made him go through 70 plays in a practice setting hours beforehand. Johnson put Williams in different situations on the field, and threw to receivers such as DJ Moore, Rome Odunze and Olamide Zaccheaus, Cole Kmet, and running back D’Andre Swift.
“There is no substitute for real live bullets — I get that,” Johnson said. “At the same time, when you can accumulate 70-plus reps in a day, that’s pretty good. And that goes a long way in terms of where you want to go with the connection with his pass catchers. I wish I could do that every day, or every other, with him.”
Williams may play for a little in their next game against the Buffalo Bills, which is a game most starters see time in.
If Williams and the first-team do end up getting reps, best believe Johnson will be on his headset calling the plays like it's a regular season game, and that's what you want to see from a first-year head coach.
