Ben Johnson: ‘We are a different team then we were Week 1’ | Press Conference

Ben Johnson: ‘We are a different team then we were Week 1’ | Press Conference

Good to have the guys back. Uh man, you look at this team that we’re about to play and and a lot of respect for their coaching staff. I think uh Okonnell, he was the coach of the year last year for a reason. He just he always has his guys playing and and they I mean, they are uh they’re in all these one-sore games and they they usually find a way to come out on top of them. Um got a lot of respect for for Flores. He’s he’s done it at a high level now since he entered the division. Um gives you all kinds of problems. you got to be on your mess for all 60 70 plays on offense to to have a chance and it’s it’s as mentally fatiguing as it is uh physically fatiguing for our guys. So, um quite a challenge. They do a number of things really well. Uh you know, we’re 0 and2 in the division. They’re two and0 in the division right now and and we’re going up to their place which is a very hostile environment. It’ll be loud. Um and we got to be able to handle those elements. So, really excited about the opportunity here for our team this week. Open it up. Ben, as you’re getting glimpses of the season opener in your prep, what do you notice as the most market difference between the offense you took into the season opener and the one that you’re you’re seeing now? Well, we we found out a lot about ourselves over the course of the season so far. We are we’re a different team than than we were week one and uh so is Minnesota. Um so, this will be a completely different matchup as far as I’m concerned. I have uh you know, the trust level is has grown for a number of players with with in our coaching staff. I I think we we really can hang our hat on a number of guys now at this point and feel really good about what we’re going to get on game day. And so, um, you know, and then you look at offense, you know, yeah, we’re running the ball a little bit crisper and cleaner. I think the backs have a better fuel for what we’re asking to do. The O line has started to to gel. I think Caleb’s got a better understanding of what we’re getting done. And then on defense, it’s really the same thing. I think the longer you’re in the scheme, uh, the more comfortable you are in terms of what the coaches are asking to do. I think we’ve up front done a better job of of trying to play physical and shed blocks. Um and and that’s that’s got to show up here for the second half of the season. Mental fatigue you referenced going against this defense. What what creates the most strain mentally? Well, he Yeah, it’s it’s uh you know, I’m sure I’m sure Flo would tell you that it’s not that that much defense for them, but when you’re on an offensive perspective, it it just seems like a lot of variety of fronts and coverages and and uh personnel groups and so he does a good job mixing everything up and each week’s a little bit different. He has a different flavor. um you know, he played us a certain way week one that that was a little bit different than what uh than what maybe you you would have seen the last couple years and and then you know, you look at the last few weeks, he changes it up and so um a lot of it’s based on who he has at his disposal as well. You know, week one they didn’t have Harrison Smith. Um and and so guys are in, they’re out. You know, Van Ginkle’s in and out. Um Renard, you know, we’ll see we’ll see where he’s at here this week. And so he does as good of a job as anybody making sure he puts his guys in a good spot and and keep the opposing play caller guessing. He has an MO that he’s going to blitz a lot. And I know that what you’re referring to like they didn’t Caleb didn’t face the blitz nearly as much as he did last year against Florence’s defense. How how challenging is that too if you trying to anticipate something it doesn’t happen and then having to adjust to it? Yeah. No, I think it’s uh it takes me back to my early days in Miami when you’d go against New England. you know, it’s they you just didn’t know what they were going to be each week. Some weeks they would come out and throw it 50 times, other weeks they would come out and run it 50 times. And um you know, same thing with their defense. You just didn’t know what front they were going to major in and and what they were keying in on. And uh I think a lot of those elements, how he was he was brought up probably carries over to his philosophy now. And uh you know, it shows up. It shows up for him. And so yeah, it does create issues as you’re trying to game plan because you just you want to make sure you’re sound. you want to make sure that uh you got guys accounted for and and yet uh if you do too much, you run the risk of guys thinking too much and they start playing slow and and the defense feasts on you that way, too. So, um that’s where it’s that’s the challenge and that’s the balance we’re trying to strike here this week. Zack four times in four weeks. How much of that is him being Houdini? How much of that is your own line? And how much of that is scheme for, you know, you guys trying to put him in the best position possible? Well, yeah. I think I think having a healthy running game certainly helps the the uh the pressure number. Um because when that when a defense has respect for stopping your run game, then it certainly slows them down and they’re transition to to pass rushers. So, uh that could be part of it. But yeah, I think I’ve got a lot of confidence in our own line right now um and what they’re doing. We’ve got some really clean pockets uh throughout. tight ends are a big part of our protection scheme. So, our backs and even our receivers getting involved occasionally with our drop back pass game as well. Um, so I think it always starts there, but there’s there’s no mistaking what what Caleb can do. He just he feels it and uh the way he evades is it’s I I think it’s second to none. Ben, with Caleb, when you when you look at the way he’s playing with the game on the line, is it a case where do you think do you think he’s focusing more in those high pressure situations. Is it possible that he’s actually thinking more and processing more in those scenarios because he just has to? I don’t know that that’s a question you can ask him how if if he changes over the course of the game. I I don’t notice a difference um in terms of demeanor or sideline communication at all. I think he’s he’s been pretty consistent throughout uh staying locked in and and dialed in and trying to just execute whatever comes to hand. But um you know in those particular cases you’re you’re in more drop back pass mode and I don’t want to say he’s got a more a higher comfort level there. Um but yet that it is probably where he’s had the majority of his snaps over high school and college and now in the NFL. And so there probably is just a little bit of okay this is this is my wheelhouse and um I know we’re going to throw it and defense knows we’re going to throw it and yet I can I can go ahead and make a play. So, um there might be something to that. And what what is uh how do you define living in the known because it’s something that a lot of the players are uttering to us when they talk about these games and the opportunities they’ve had. Yeah. The uh you know, I I I can’t take credit for that because really Antoine Randle is such an integral part of what we’re doing. Really, the entire coaching staff is doing a phenomenal job. Um they they really are. and and yet L’s got an opportunity each week on on Fridays to come up and and talk with the team in the team meeting and uh that’s something he kind of struck on a few weeks ago and it’s it’s really started to carry through for us where he’s talking about you start with this hope going into the season and then you start pulling away with some of these wins and you start believing in what we’re doing and and uh the pro the progress that we’re making as a team and then and then you get the next step is knowing knowing what what’s going to happen next. And so, um, it’s really I think he’s he’s been the one behind that movement. I’m glad the guys have really resonated with what he’s said. Um, like I it’s kind of the vision of this coaching staff. You bring in all these guys with so many different experiences from playing at this level to coaching here for a long time and I think each and every one of them had has had a profound impact on our team. Ben, do you have any can you give any update on the status of Kyler and Jaylen just in their recoveries and how far away they might be from? Yeah. Um, you know, I I think we we should be able to get them back at some point. Um, end of the season here, but kind of to be determined on when those clocks will start clicking here. You know, I just saw Jaylen in the in the wait room. So, um, he seems like he’s he’s excited about where he is right now and he’s hopeful that he’s going to be able to be out on the practice field here in the near future. Tyler, you initially said like short it seemed like it would be a shortterm IR. Is it correct? We’re still thinking that. Okay. Yeah, we’re still thinking that. So, I can’t tell you exactly when, but hopefully in the near future here. Back to Pat’s question about the sacks, like you you mentioned the other day that Caleb has done a good job navigating those situations. like what from week one to now, how has he gotten better at keeping, you know, keeping himself out of those situations, whether it’s holding on to the ball too, getting rid of the ball quicker, not holding on to it as long. Are you seeing something that’s helping him help himself when he’s under pressure? Oh, shoot. I I I don’t think so. I I don’t know. I think he’s getting getting more confidence with the guys up front. Um the more he’s out there, the more he sees it on tape, uh you know, there’s a few chances in there, too, that we stay in there just to tick longer and we deliver that football even when the the house is burning down. And uh you know, there’s a couple last week that we felt that way. There’s a couple the week before that way as well. So, and when we talk about it with him, it’s you don’t want to take away that natural instinct that he has, but yet there’s there’s a little bit of man, if we stay in here, I think this is unlocks even more of your game. and uh we we’ll have some more explosive plays potentially. And so um we’re working through that and I think uh I think he’s right on track with with where we had hoped we would see him at mid-season right now. Body language wise you’re pretty stoic, you know, regardless of what you might be saying in the in the headset. When you when you see Caleb do some of these things at the last second, spin, you know, kind of backwards out of the way. In your head, are you sitting there going, “Oh, look out.” Or are you living and dying with, you know, he backpedal six yards in the middle of a scramble the other day? I’m I’m thinking I’m the best coach in America of a play call, wouldn’t it? Um, no, I think that’s that’s the that’s the beauty behind what we have going right now is uh, you know, as a coaching staff, we try to we try to get that primary receiver open as much as we can. And, uh, sometimes the defense doesn’t cooperate with you and and so Caleb knows that if if we can’t get one to two or if the, you know, he’s feeling the pressure that he’s he can still make us right and we can still have a good play. So, um, I think it’s that’s a cool thing about where we’re at right now. Have you seen ways that you What have you seen in the relationship between CJ and Dennis Allen that they seem to have this connection where uh Dennis is able to get through to him and he is able to earn Dennis’s trust? Yeah. Well, I mean they they’ve got a history and so um I think like any relationship, it’s not it’s not just all rainbows and sunshine all the time, but you have to be honest. We got you got to be direct and and I think uh I think all of our players respect that about our coaching staff and and I think DA embodies that. you know, he’s he’s going to tell you when you’re doing it right and when you’re doing it wrong and and so um CJ appreciates that and so he’s only been here a couple weeks and yet I see I see a really good match for our team right now, our locker room. Um I I do I agree with you. I think he’s got immense trust in in DA. I think uh he wouldn’t be here if he didn’t feel that way about where he is in his career that that we can’t help him um take him to another level as well. So, um, it’s a good thing and I think it’s it’s good for our players, too. I think they’re see they’re feeling this swagger and it’s starting to starting to percolate a little bit through our through our whole building. So, it’s good. Yeah. Thank you.

Head coach Ben Johnson addresses the media Wednesday at Halas Hall.

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