Ben Johnson on getting Bears ready for Black Friday game vs. Eagles | Press Conference

Ben Johnson on getting Bears ready for Black Friday game vs. Eagles | Press Conference

Right. Um, man, we’ve had a great week so far, as short as it’s been. Uh, guys have come in and really handled the the short week well so far. So, uh, we’ll get on the field today. We’ll see what it looks like, but uh, a lot of information thrown their way in a short period of time and working on getting our bodies as as ready as we possibly can for Friday. So, um, but we’re in a good spot right now. Excited about this opportunity. Go ahead and open it up. In the spirit of the holiday and all of us being here, you want to tell us whether Jaylen or Kyler’s coming off of IR, we’ve got a uh we’ve got a plan in place for them. Um and we’re really right on track with what we’re hoping to get done with them. So, uh we’ll we’ll know soon enough. And lineback is linebacker defin. Yeah, I mean we always have a plan. I think we got a good projection of uh who we’ll have available for us there on game day and uh you know contingency plans. If if we end up losing a guy or two at certain spots, then we’ll have to make some adjustments. But um that’s what that’s what DA and his crew have done a great job of on their side of the ball. We do the same thing on offense just to make sure we’re we’re prepared and we don’t miss a beat. So um it’s it’s similar to last week where we’ll have all hands on deck uh really all three phases. And with with Jaylen and Connor, what’s your philosophy on using pitch counts to ease guys back in that have missed a lot of time? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I just I go back to uh the moment we started practicing them. Um it was with the big picture in mind, how do we acclimate them, make sure that we’re putting them in a good spot. So throughout the course of of the weeks of practice, we’ve been able to slowly increase the rep count there. And then um yeah, we’ll be very mindful of that when we do get them up and going in a game. just we don’t want to throw them into the wolves or or put them in a bad spot. So, um yeah, that that’s all been talked about and and we have a plan for it. Said yesterday how how Vic Fanjo’s defense is kind of the opposite. They’re trying to limit big plays. You guys are looking for the big plays. What’s your appreciation as you go up against that kind of defensive identity and a guyy’s been doing it for so long? Yeah, I mean he’s he’s uh he’s like the godfather in a lot of ways. I mean, he’s he’s kind of taken the league over in terms of that scheme. It’s um it’s it’s been to a number of teams. You see all of his disciples running it now. We we already faced one in New Orleans this year. You know, Carolina, I mean, it’s it’s all over the place. The Rams are running it to a degree. And so, um you know, he’s influenced the game significantly. And uh and yeah, it’s the Shell defense. They want to they want to limit the explosives. Um, and I think when you have the horses up front like he does to where they can stop the run game while playing too high, I think that’s a powerful combination. And so, um, no, he he does a phenomenal job with it. He he, uh, I’ve never worked with Vic, but a lot of respect, uh, from afar, obviously, and then, you know, just the people that have worked with him speak so highly of how he calls a game. And, uh, he’s usually a step ahead of the the opposing play caller. So, um it’ll be a challenge here just to make sure that we’re trying to keep him as off balance as we possibly can. Um and it and it really starts up front. You know, this is a really good front seven guys and uh and you know, we we got to take it to them there and and play on their side of the line of scrimmage. You remember about last year’s Thanksgiving game? Shoot. I don’t remember much about last year. I don’t remember much about last week to be honest with you. Um, no. You know, that was uh that was a heck of a game. You know, came down to the wire was uh you know, it’s being on the opposing sideline there. You know, it was it was a good one for for uh for Detroit that week. So, uh that’s about all I remember though. Your own life, does it feel a long ways away just all the changes that have happened to you since? Yeah. No, I yeah, it’s it’s uh I don’t I got a shortterm memory, I think, and so I turn the page pretty quickly, but um those are things maybe during the summer time and I get a chance to have a beer, you know, on a on a nice warm day, I can reflect and think back on um you know, things of from from the days in the past, but uh yeah, it was a long time ago it feels like at this point and uh really happy with where we are here and and what we’re building here right now. Obviously, you dealt with short weeks as an OC, but now as a first time head coach, like what additional challenges have you had to to deal with uh you know, now that you’re running? Yeah, I I think uh I mean, as a play caller, it’s the it’s the right balance between how do we attack that opposing defense, but yet we want our guys to play fast knowing they’re not getting as many practice reps. And so, um, fortunately, we’re towards the, you know, back half of the season now, and I have a better feel for our guys and how much information they can handle and and newness they can handle in a short week. And so, I feel better about that from a volume perspective. But, um, but yet, as a head head coach, it’s it’s I still want to go through all this tape and make sure I have a big picture uh mindset in terms of how we want this game to go for us. Uh, that gives us the best chance to come away with win. And so, um, it’ll be all the way up until probably kickoff time that I’m I’m watching the tape and I’m just making sure my head’s in the right spot to where I can I can help our guys out the most. What are the keys when preparing Caleb to face those like pre- snap disguises of a big fan defense? Like, what do you tell Caleb about those? Yeah, it’s it’s uh I mean, he he does a great job. They It all looks the same for the most part pre- snap and then postnap you try to get your confirmation on on what those coverages are. And so, um, he’s got to make sure he he maintains discipline with his eyes, maintain discipline with what he sees postnap. Um, our our route runners got to be very detailed and disciplined in how they’re doing things, making sure we’re at the right depths and and, uh, recognizing whether it’s, you know, is it quarters, is it, uh, cloud, is it is it single high? It all changes on the snap. And when you have elements of our offense that we are reading the coverage with with our routes, I think uh you know it’s a challenge to make sure everything’s on the same page uh in the passing game. Um I think they do a great job making it muddy. They they really do and I think that’s part of the beauty behind what they do. When you watch Jaylen Carter, what do you find most impressive about the impact he has? Yeah, I mean he’s he’s a twitchy guy. Um violent player. um just very difficult to block one-on-one and then he finds a way to to split double teams as well. So, you can see a number of teams this year on tape, they they try to get him on these backside combinations or even front side on the on the deuce blocks and uh and yet he finds a way to to split in between those guys. And so, uh it’s really impressive. Um plays hard. I mean, you see him all over the tape, even on these plays that most defenses take off, like the offense clocking it in the two-minute drill. he’s over here trying to dive between the center’s legs and and get an interception. And so, uh, we’re going to be mindful of where he’s at. And it’s not just him. I think Jordan Davis is playing really good football up front. They got a lot of depth on the edges right now. Their linebackers are stack linebackers. I mean, they they got three or four guys that can really play run the football, hit downhill. I mean, it’s it’s a it’s a really good unit. And so, um, we’re going to have to make sure that we’re, you know, it starts with our technique. We got to play with low pad level. We got to come off the football. Um, and we got to play physical this week. You mentioned Jordan Davis. He has six batted passes this season. Is there anything that offensive lineman or even Caleb can do to kind of avoid that from happening? Uh, I mean, I think that’s part of playing is uh, you know, we we’re trying the best we can to get their hands down, particularly on our quick game type mentality plays. Our old line knows that, but um, sometimes that’s the cost of doing business, too. Particularly when you got a a joker like that that’s so long. you know, he’s got he’s tall and long arms and so it doesn’t take much for him to to uh potentially get in the throwing lane. If if Theo’s healthy, is he your starting left? We will see. With Azie, did he show enough to prompt you to at least to take a look at Azie did a great job last week? Yeah, he did a great job last week and he was a big big reason why we were able to win that game. How do you account for that? He was obviously uncomfortable during the summer of trying to get settled on the left side. You guys moved him over to right and then he gets the development through the the course of months and plays pretty well on the left side. What do you what did you see there? Yeah, you know, I I don’t know what it was um over probably like the last four weeks or so, but it’s almost like it’s almost like things have slowed down for him. And uh I feel it around the building, not even on the practice field as much. I feel it in the building with him where there’s a little less, you know, stepping on eggshells and it’s like he’s coming out of his shell a little bit and he uh, you know, he’s not a rookie anymore as far as I’m concerned. It kind of feels that way just being around him personalitywise and and when that opens up, I think your play, you just kind of cut it loose and and you play ball. And so I’ I felt that from him. And I don’t know why that is the case or anything like that, but um, you know, he he’s been I’m not saying a different guy, but it’s like, okay, he knows he belongs. He knows he belongs. I think he’s got confidence and doesn’t really matter right side or left side. I I think he knows he can be a very productive player at this level. Ben, how do you take advantage of kind of more of those underneath areas with that linebacking core and how well they’re playing right now? Yeah. No, it’s it’s a challenge. Um, anytime you play a match or man style defense like this, you know, they take the air away. And so, um, I think there’s certain things, certain elements of our offense that we can, uh, try to challenge them and their rules potentially and, uh, hopefully have them have bad eyes at times, but, um, you know, it’s it’s a really disciplined bunch and they’ve been in the scheme now for a year and a half. And so, they know what they’re doing. They and they’re doing it at a high level. So, um, yeah, it’ll be that that’s the hard thing to do. Uh, but like I said before, I think the details with which we execute are going to be at a premium here this week. Thank you very

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

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