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With the Chicago Bears' schedule released just recently, there was a certain aspect that stood out besides the competition that the team will face. As the Bears look to round out the roster for the upcoming season, the team has an early bye happening in Week 5, while as fans look at that as too soon, head coach Ben Johnson would have to disagree.
Johnson was on “The Herd” with sports analyst Colin Cowherd, where he was initially asked about Chicago's offensive line and with the new pieces of old and young players, how much time will be needed to get the much-needed chemistry within the unit. For Johnson, he would speak about the bye in Week 5, saying that it normally would take four weeks into the season “to find out who you are as a team.”
“I actually like where that bye week is, because it usually takes about four weeks into the season to find out who you are as a team and what you do well and what you don't do well, and then that's at a good time, so that we can reflect on that as a coaching staff, to really hone in on what we want to be for that remaining three quarters of the season.”
An early bye week could prove beneficial for the team, especially with the new head coach in Johnson, to assess how the unit has played, even analyzing himself and the rest of the coaching staff.
Bears' Ben Johnson on it taking a “half a season” to see chemistry
With Johnson looking to elevate stars such as Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, the offensive line will play a huge part in this upcoming season. Having players like Joe Thuney, Jonah Jackson, Drew Dalman, Darnell Wright, Braxton Jones, and others, Johnson spoke about them “gelling together” and how, during his time, it could take half of the season for a team to start showing chemistry.
“Yeah, I think that's going to be the challenge there during training camp, is how quickly can we come together,” Johnson said. “I mean, they're really bonding as a unit right now, communication-wise, but we don't have the pads on. I think we need the pads on before we truly start gelling together. So training camps can be critical for us.”
“I would say my experience has been that when you can get a new group together, it could take up to half the season before they really start to mesh and come together,” Johnson continued. “In terms of the run game, more so than pass protection, I think we should be a pretty good pass pro unit right off the jump. But that run game, the communication, the angles with which we're all going, trusting each other, particularly in the wide zone scheme that we're installing right now in OTAs. That's something that we want to make sure that we get plenty of time on.”
Chicago looks to improve after finishing last season with a 5-12 record, which put them last in the NFC North. The Bears start their upcoming season on Sunday, Sept. 8, when the team takes on the Minnesota Vikings.
