Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson is seeing things come together.
From his offense to recovering players and his approach to analytics, Johnson had more to share in month No. 2 on the job as the Bears' head coach.
Here are some things we heard from Ben Johnson on Tuesday from his media session with reporters at the NFL Owner's Meetings.
Johnson's offense in Chicago is coming together
The Bears have yet to get all their players in the building together. There's still some time for Johnson's offense to grow.
But right now, Johnson is getting Step No. 1 out of the way.
"Our first step was to get on the same page, terminology-wise," Johnson said.
Johnson's offensive staff, including offensive coordinator Declan Doyle, running backs coach Eric Bieniemy and receivers coach/assistant head coach Antwaan Randle El, have gotten the terms out of the way. That paves the way for the next steps.
Johnson was asked about how second-year quarterback Caleb Williams will fit into Johnson's offense. Specifically, he was asked if there were any bad habits he needed to coach out of Williams.
Johnson said he didn't see anything critical that needed correcting, but he did note that Williams might have to get more comfortable playing under center as opposed to operating in the shotgun.
Running plays from under center was a big part of Johnson's offense in Detroit. There are plenty of things Johnson is starting from scratch with, but his concepts will ask Williams to be more under center. That opens up a bit more offensively for the Bears.
"There are some things that we’re going to encourage that he’s done a little differently," Johnson said. "We had a lot of success where I was last; going under center for the run game did translate in play action. Whether that works for us in Chicago, time will tell."
Ben Johnson is bringing the Bears into the present-day NFL
Analytics has become a necessity for most professional sports. Johnson wasn’t shying away from that.
Following analytical trends is easier said than done, but Johnson has noticed one ongoing trend that he’s bringing to Chicago.
"From our analytics team, the EPA in the passing game is really one of the most critical factors in determining wins and losses right now," Johnson said.
EPA is an analytic in the NFL that stands for Expected Points Added. It specifically measures how much one play changes a team's expected points on a drive.
This metric factors in down, distance, field position and more situational football aspects to measure a team’s likelihood of scoring points.
This wasn’t always the case. Johnson said that five years ago, the turnover margin was the analytic metric teams used the most to project wins and losses. That was what former head coach Matt Eberflus preached to the Bears with his H.I.T.S. principle.
Now, Johnson is looking at EPA. He said Tuesday that 80 percent of the time, teams with better EPA in the passing game win.
"Five years ago, turnovers and takeaways, that was No. 1," Johnson said. "From what I understand now, the EPA in the passing game has now surpassed that."
"There’s a lot of ways to get that done."
The Bears will ask more of Braxton Jones as he gets healthier
Bears starting left tackle Braxton Jones suffered a broken ankle against the Detroit Lions at Soldier Field in the final weeks of the 2024 season.
Jones had surgery, and Johnson said that recovery time will mean Jones will most likely be limited when training camp begins. But, there haven’t been any setbacks.
"I think he's right on track," Johnson said. "Progress is right where it needs to be right now."
That’s good news for Jones, especially as Johnson and the Bears’ coaching staff will be putting more on his plate as he enters a contract year on a revamped offensive line.
Johnson likes the athletic traits Jones has. One of his best traits as a prospect coming out of Southern Utah was how he had the athleticism and build of an NFL lineman. He needed to improve his technique.
In 2025, Johnson wants Jones to build on his three years of experience. That starts with getting healthy, and it continues with growing. Literally.
"The No. 1 thing in my opinion that tackles need to do is pass protect," Johnsons said. "He's got the feet to get that done. We're going to challenge him to maybe gain a little bit more weight so that he can anchor a little bit better in pass-pro, but everything I've seen so far has shown a phenomenal athlete out there on the edge that we feel like we can work with."
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