If there is one thing we’ve learned about Ben Johnson through the first month as Chicago Bears head coach, it’s that nothing escapes his notice. If things aren’t going according to his expectations, people will hear about it. Mind you, he doesn’t throw around accusations randomly. He holds himself accountable when things go wrong. However, he has the right to point out when players aren’t doing their jobs. Right now, he’s not happy with the state of the offense. While it’s been scoring 21-24 points a game, the process and execution has been sloppy.
Nowhere is that clearer than in the running game, where they continue to rank among the NFL’s worst. Johnson didn’t hide his feelings on the matter. He feels certain people aren’t doing enough to help the operation.
“I don’t feel like everybody on offense yet is pulling their weight, and that’s myself included. There’s a number of things from yesterday’s game that I have to do a better job of. There’s a couple calls I was getting in late. There’s a couple things that the coaching staff, myself, we could have coached up better to give us a better chance there.
“When you look at it as a whole, it was just a mess, man. I’m just not proud of what we put on tape. I think it’s a reflection of myself. I always take it personally. I saw us getting better the first three weeks in a lot of ways on offense and then this was just a little bit of a step back for us.”
Here is where it gets interesting.
During the game in Las Vegas, it was evident the Bears benched left tackle Braxton Jones. No statement was made as to why. Some wondered if he was hurt, but Jones still came in for field goal and extra point duties. Something happened to compel the decision. Johnson was asked what the plans on the left side were moving forward. His answer was carefully worded, with zero indication that Jones would resume the role.
“Yeah, I think we need to look at all four games so far as a whole, and we’ll get a good feel here over the next few days where we’re at schematically. What are we doing well? What aren’t we doing well? And I think we’ll really have a good grasp of what we need to do going forward. So it’s too early for me to tell you that, Jason, to be honest with you. I feel like we’ve got to go through this process and just figure out what’s best for us and our team going forward here. I’ve got a lot of faith in the guys in that room. We’ve got some talented individuals, and I really believe in the coaching staff in that room as well, that we’re only scratching the surface of what we’re capable of.”
Ben Johnson likely has two paths he can take.
The simplest option is to leave Theo Benedet at left tackle in place of Jones and have Darnell Wright return to right tackle once he has recovered from his elbow injury. However, some believe Ben Johnson may try something bolder. It would involve moving Wright to left tackle, opening the door for 2nd round pick Ozzy Trapilo to take over the right side, which is his natural position. It would get the Bears’ two most talented tackles on the field together. Trapilo played well in his debut against the Raiders on Sunday. The obvious risk is moving Wright to a spot he’s unfamiliar with after two years strictly as a right tackle.
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Still, if the Bears were going to try something like this, the bye week is their best chance. Answers will likely emerge at some point next week when they return to practice.
