Ben Johnson had some amazing success in Detroit with the Lions. Almost overnight, he transformed their offense from deflated sandbag to one of the NFL’s most feared. He did this with excellent play calling, creative personnel usage, and relentless intensity. One of his greatest strengths is said to be his attention to detail. Stories about him have led to a rather lofty comparison to late Hall of Famer Bill Walsh, the architect of the San Francisco 49ers dynasty of the 1980s. He is still revered as arguably the greatest offensive mind in NFL history.

One of the reasons for that wasn’t his overall genius but more his uncompromising approach to details. There is a famous story of him during a 49ers practice. Joe Montana threw a downfield pass to Jerry Rice that the receiver corralled over the shoulder with his hands against his chest. Offensive coordinator Mike Holmgren called it a good throw. Walsh immediately disagreed. He ordered Montana and Rice to run the play again. This time, he wanted the ball out six inches in front of the receiver’s chest. The idea was clear: it must be in stride every time. People thought he was crazy, but that was how Walsh ensured his offense always ran with such precision.

It seems Johnson is the same way.

Adam Jahns of CHGO shared new details of an exchange between the head coach and quarterback Caleb Williams. It perfectly illustrates how Walsh-like the man is.

Seeing Johnson yell “faster” at Williams as he went through his reads during a spring practice – despite making a completion for a first down – still feels notable. Williams wasn’t good enough. Johnson wanted better. He expected more from his starter.

Trestman didn’t operate that way in his first year. And neither did Nagy, at least not in those on-the-field moments where everyone could hear and see him on the field.

Johnson seems to have the brains of Trestman and some of the swagger and energy of Nagy, including some of the same confidence in news conferences.

Ben Johnson is exactly what the Bears needed.

One of the biggest criticisms of the previous coaching staff (and those before them) was their unerring consistency in allowing constant mistakes. Self-inflicted wounds were the calling card every Bears season. It often felt less like other teams were beating them so much as it was the Bears beating themselves. Ben Johnson seems to recognize this reality, having lived it for years in Miami and Detroit. Losing to a good opponent is one thing. Losing because you can’t execute properly is inexcusable. Walsh never stood for it. He would cut guys for game-changing infractions. Johnson is the same way. Whether you’re a star or a backup doesn’t matter. You will do things the right way, or you can expect to get shouted at.

The Chicago Bears had plenty of reasons to draft Colston Loveland with the 10th overall pick. For one, he’s a physical specimen. There are very few players with his mixture of size (6’6, 250 lbs) and speed. Couple that with some seriously advanced route-running ability, and you start to understand why head coach Ben Johnson was smitten. Then there is the clutch angle. Loveland developed a reputation at Michigan for always bringing his best in big games. He was a constant menace against Ohio State and delivered some gigantic moments in the Wolverines’ national championship victory.

However, there might be a deeper truth to this. It is Loveland’s passion for the game. Since GM Ryan Poles took over, the Bears have said that they look for players with a deep love for football. Those guys tend to put in the most work and play the hardest. People who paid attention would’ve recognized this in Loveland years ago. According to Steven Greenberg of the Chicago Sun-Times, the tight end developed a reputation for being kind of a maniac about football as far back as the 4th grade.

He was a different animal.

In fourth grade, Loveland wanted to play tackle football, but kids his age weren’t allowed to play tackle in Gooding. Hagerman, on the other hand, needed numbers just to field a team in a tackle league for fifth- and sixth-graders, so Loveland — not that much larger than most his age back then — signed up there.

“Colston was something,” Tom Faulkner recalled. “He was juking these older boys, breaking tackles, moving up the field. He was always really strong.”…

…He went to Zubizarreta and said the summer training regimen the rest of the team was following wasn’t enough for him, not even close. Zubizarreta, a former college athlete, threw everything he could think of at Loveland.

“Squats, power cleans, bench, hip flexors, hamstrings, lunges,” Zubizarreta said. “He did the hard things every day and never had a bad day in here. Even your hardest workers have bad days, but he never had a bad day.”

Colston Loveland is constantly looking for the next challenge.

That is a common trait you often find in winners. The way they constantly stay on top of their game comes from constantly moving the goal posts back. Once they reach a milestone, they don’t rest and enjoy the accomplishment. They reset and think about how they can top what they just did. It is how Colston Loveland became a highly sought-after recruit despite coming from a town of barely 300 people. It is how he became a 1st round pick despite never being the primary offensive weapon in his team’s offense at Michigan. He just did things that made him impossible to ignore. Having somebody with that mentality in the locker room always leads to good things.

The Chicago Bears arrived at training camp without any significant controversies. Their draft class is under contract, and every notable veteran in need of a contract extension received one. They also managed to get there without any significant injuries. Well, almost. Word has come out that four players will start camp on the Non-Football Injury list (NFI). One of them is star cornerback Jaylon Johnson. The other three are quarterback Case Keenum, wide receiver Jahdae Walker, and running back Ian Wheeler.

The NFI list is meant for players who suffered an injury unrelated to practice or games. It is most often used for players suffering from illnesses or dealing with off-the-field incidents. Johnson’s situation is unclear. One can assume it is nothing serious. If it were, he would’ve landed on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list instead. Still, this is a situation worth watching as camp opens. Rookies reported on Saturday. Veterans are expected to follow on the 22nd. Johnson’s absence could create some interesting practice opportunities for others.

Johnson’s absence gives the Chicago Bears an opportunity.

That is to evaluate their young cornerback talent. With him temporarily out of the picture, other guys like Terell Smith and rookie 5th round pick Zah Frazier should get more meaningful reps with the first-team defense. Secondary coach Al Harris is tasked with seeing where the depth of this team is on the back end. Everybody knows Johnson is the best player on the Chicago Bears defense. His missing a few practices (hopefully) won’t matter. If Smith, Frazier, or somebody else can make an impression, it gives the team some interesting decisions about competition for that third starting spot occupied by Tyrique Stevenson.

Cornerback is definitely an interest that could see unexpected changes over the next month. We will likely hear more about Johnson soon enough.

It doesn’t take somebody with sharp vision to see the NFL Players Association has been a mess for years, often accused of being lackadaisical and even corrupt. While it claims to champion players’ best interests, the evidence seems to swing more and more towards it actually doing what is best for the NFL. Never was that clearer than with the recent resignation of director Lloyd Howell, who was accused of misusing union funds for purposes such as strip clubs, holding part ownership of a private equity firm trying to buy into actual NFL teams, and colluding with the league to prevent players from receiving fully guaranteed contracts. Now, Chicago Bears players and others are being treated to new layers of this controversy.

Pablo Torre and Mike Florio, who broke the initial story, added new details revealing that former center JC Tretter is actually the mastermind behind all of this. He is the one who pushed for Howell to get the job, knowing how stupid and corrupt he was, and also guided not one but two cover-ups of arbitration rulings. Why? He aims to be the next executive director of the NFLPA.

It seems Chicago Bears representatives and others are catching on.

Reports have surfaced that several players who weren’t in the loop on this situation have begun peppering the NFLPA for information. According to Dianna Russini of The Athletic, Tretter’s apparent hold on the director position is still strong but starting to come under serious danger. A civil war is brewing inside the association. People in the NFL are starting to sense Tretter may get pushed out.

Player reps from all 32 NFL teams, plus several additional voices, met Friday night on a call to discuss the future leadership of the NFL Players’ Association. Based on the discussion, the race for the next executive director following the resignation of Lloyd Howell is down to two candidates: JC Tretter, who has the majority of support, and Don Davis, who several league sources have shared has had a strong push from players.

No timetable has been set for naming an interim executive director. A high-ranking executive in the NFL offices said Friday the league anticipates that whoever is appointed interim executive director will not be promoted to the full-time role. The league’s thinking stems from the belief that the union is ready to break from a group previously led by Howell and Tretter.

Tretter misplayed his hand, it seems.

The former center has developed a taste for politics inside the NFL. He served as president of the NFLPA for two terms. Clearly, he wanted the highest position of authority and was willing to use underhanded tactics to get it. That now threatens to blow up in his face if Chicago Bears players and others around the league get their way.

It didn’t take a rocket scientist to recognize Colston Loveland was special. He was already a big name on the peewee circuit before reaching high school. This was somebody who willingly accepted playing against fifth and sixth-graders despite only being in fourth grade because it allowed him to play tackle football. He was a beast. That legend only grew at Gooding High School, where he transformed into an all-in-one offensive weapon that could do everything on the field. He made the team a state championship contender almost by himself.

As this legend unfolded, those around him recognized the inevitable was happening. Loveland was destined for the NFL. He was too big, too strong, too fast, and too good, as Stacey King would say. One person who knew it better than most was Gooding’s weightlifting coach, Joey Zubizarreta. He had a front row seat for Loveland’s transformation from regular kid to bulked-up specimen. It got to a point where Zubizarreta decided to call his shot. According to Steve Greenberg of the Chicago Sun-Times, he predicted Loveland would not only reach the NFL, but even revealed which team he’d play for.

As Loveland was still a high schooler turning into something special, Zubizarreta predicted to him often that he would make it all the way and play for — yep — the Bears. Then again, Zubizarreta happened to be such a Bears fan that he had an Urlacher jersey and a dog named Briggs. How about that?

Chad Loveland always rooted for the Broncos, seemingly a more natural preference for an Idahoan.

“I’ve got a new favorite team now,” he said.

Colston Loveland was manifested to the Bears, it seems.

Fate has a funny way of playing a role in these things. The timing had to be perfect. Colston Loveland needed to declare for the NFL draft right when the Bears were in a transition period. They had to hire a head coach (Ben Johnson) who liked to heavily feature tight ends in his offense. Last but not least, he needed the draft board to fall so that no players at greater positions of need, like running back or pass rusher, were available. Not only that, but this was all while battling against Tyler Warren, whom many felt was the better overall tight end in this class. So many things had to go right for Loveland to end up in Chicago. Maybe Mr. Zubizarreta was from the future like Marty McFly. Whatever the case, this story will become part of Loveland’s folklore if he becomes a great player.

Signing his rookie deal right before camp ensured that Ozzy Trapilo remains well-positioned for easily the most important stretch of his early career. Braxton Jones is not expected to be ready for the start of training camp. That means the door will be open for somebody else to fill the void at left tackle. Right now, it is a two-man battle between Trapilo and Kiram Amegadjie, the Chicago Bears‘ 3rd round pick from last year. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. Amegadjie is the better athlete. Trapilo is bigger and more polished.

One thing about the Boston College tackle is his ability to learn. Absorbing information is something he mastered from an early age. It’s in his blood, after all. His father played in the NFL. Trapilo also had NFL coaches teaching him in college. Yet his greatest resource might be something the Bears provided upon his arrival. That is left guard Joe Thuney. He has been an invaluable source of information and advice for the rookie going back months, helping to streamline the acclimation process.

“When we’re out there, especially after a rep, the benefit of practice is you can get back to the huddle and talk a little bit about it. You don’t have to move on to the next play right now. Especially looking at the tape and stuff like that. So (it’s) talking through reps with him, kind of seeing where his head’s at and just picking his brain.”

Ozzy Trapilo controls his own destiny.

The Bears have provided every resource imaginable to accomplish his career goals. He has a tremendous play caller running the offense in Ben Johnson. Dan Roushar is one of the best offensive line coaches in football. Add the opportunity to learn from a future Hall of Famer like Thuney, and you couldn’t ask for a better setup. It feels like Ozzy Trapilo understands the opportunity in front of him. If he does everything these highly-qualified people instruct him to, he has a bright career ahead of him. Everything comes down to how quickly he can make a positive impression before Jones reinserts himself into the equation or Amegadjie progresses in his development. The next week or two could prove pivotal.