Camp tidbits

[DABEARSDABOMB]

8 hours ago, Bears4Ever_34 said:

We're 3 days in, or 6 if you count mini-camp, and everything feels exactly the same. The offense is struggling, the quarterback sucks, the defense is dominating, and the excuses are beginning to form. It's all so tiresome.

I was optimistic about Caleb when we drafted him, but the rough practices are beginning to pile up for him already. If history is any indicator, we better get ready for another rough offensive season if these reports don't start changing in the near future. Part of me is beginning to wonder what his work ethic is really like. There are rumblings out there that haven't gone away.

At this point, I have more confidence in Ben Johnson than I do Caleb Williams.

I thought this was a pretty good read. I have a lot of faith right now in Ben Johnson. I do hope we see some big days from Caleb though - but this really seems like they are trying to make practice harder for him than the games - which is great - really push him. 

[DABEARSDABOMB]

1 hour ago, AZ54 said:

If DJ Moore is saying the defense is mixing it up and making him think it's doing far more to Caleb.   This is Dennis Allen's approach but it's also not being done without Ben Johnson's approval.  My opinion:  Johnson isn't taking the easy road to getting Caleb up to speed he wants him to experience it all now in practice so he's ready for game day.  You can glean some things from how a coach is challenging a player early on.  Of course he's trying to find limits and such but that also means he didn't find the limits way back in minicamp....which is a good sign.  

You are spot on 

[adam]

For the first time in a long time that I can remember, it seems that the coaches are making it harder on the players than they normally would be at this point in the offseason. Up downs on defense, applying max pressure on offense to start off practice. 

From previous camps, they were used to easy practices, which led to mixed results on game day. I like this new approach a lot.

[Stinger226]

42 minutes ago, adam said:

For the first time in a long time that I can remember, it seems that the coaches are making it harder on the players than they normally would be at this point in the offseason. Up downs on defense, applying max pressure on offense to start off practice. 

From previous camps, they were used to easy practices, which led to mixed results on game day. I like this new approach a lot.

Spot on.

With all the noise on bad offense, the only one Im listening to is what BJ says. He said this is normal ramp up to showing signs of life. He's right on track.

[adam]

21 minutes ago, Stinger226 said:

Spot on.

With all the noise on bad offense, the only one Im listening to is what BJ says. He said this is normal ramp up to showing signs of life. He's right on track.

Yeah, and the Bears first real game is September 8th, 44 days, or 6+ weeks of constant work. Everything up to this point was light work, or on paper. We should have 6 weeks of incremental improvement.

[AZ54]

16 hours ago, Mongo3451 said:

We need to remember, BJ said "get comfortable with being uncomfortable".  With athletics and military, there is a tear down and build up phase.  It's how greatness is built.  I live being uncomfortable for once...

...and unlike last year nobody is asking Ben how he can simplify things for Caleb.  At least I haven't heard one reporter ask that question.  The goal is clear:  Become the best offense in the NFL.  Ben has the proven plan for that and the players need to get on board.  

[Stinger226]

52 minutes ago, AZ54 said:

...and unlike last year nobody is asking Ben how he can simplify things for Caleb.  At least I haven't heard one reporter ask that question.  The goal is clear:  Become the best offense in the NFL.  Ben has the proven plan for that and the players need to get on board.  

I think the components are here to get there quicker than he did in Detroit but it is a process. I predict after the bye week, we will be rolling.

[Bears4Ever_34]

19 hours ago, DABEARSDABOMB said:

I thought this was a pretty good read. I have a lot of faith right now in Ben Johnson. I do hope we see some big days from Caleb though - but this really seems like they are trying to make practice harder for him than the games - which is great - really push him. 

Yeah, I saw that late last night cycling through my feed. Not surprised. Eberflus tried to do some of that last year in camp, but he wasn't/isn't smart enough to learn anything from it the way I'm certain Ben Johnson can.

It sounds like they are trying to drill in the under center aspect of the offense, and he's not reacting to it particularly well, at this point. I'll be curious to see when the season starts if they abandon that idea and keep him primarily in the shotgun while mixing in some tempo to keep him comfortable.

Hopefully he starts to take more to the things he's struggling with now, because that will make the entire offense more dynamic, but it also wouldn't surprise me if they started the year off super basic, running variations of the same few plays that the QB likes and expand from there. Peyton Manning made a HOF career out of that.

[BearFan PHX]

35 minutes ago, Bears4Ever_34 said:

Yeah, I saw that late last night cycling through my feed. Not surprised. Eberflus tried to do some of that last year in camp, but he wasn't/isn't smart enough to learn anything from it the way I'm certain Ben Johnson can.

It sounds like they are trying to drill in the under center aspect of the offense, and he's not reacting to it particularly well, at this point. I'll be curious to see when the season starts if they abandon that idea and keep him primarily in the shotgun while mixing in some tempo to keep him comfortable.

Hopefully he starts to take more to the things he's struggling with now, because that will make the entire offense more dynamic, but it also wouldn't surprise me if they started the year off super basic, running variations of the same few plays that the QB likes and expand from there. Peyton Manning made a HOF career out of that.

that all makes sense, but i also think that BJ is committed to being a heavy play action team, and leaning on the running game - and that means Caleb has to learn to be productive under center?

[Stinger226]

14 hours ago, BearFan PHX said:

that all makes sense, but i also think that BJ is committed to being a heavy play action team, and leaning on the running game - and that means Caleb has to learn to be productive under center?

Totally, repetition is how you learn the new techniques. BJ will demand he learns that and he will eventually succeed at it. Caleb is a smart player, not just a QB, he will adapt to new ideas as he goes along. 

[AZ54]

On 7/25/2025 at 7:14 PM, DABEARSDABOMB said:

I thought this was a pretty good read. I have a lot of faith right now in Ben Johnson. I do hope we see some big days from Caleb though - but this really seems like they are trying to make practice harder for him than the games - which is great - really push him. 

 This kind of a comment comes from paranoid Bears fans who need to feel better about the direction of the team (not excluding myself from that).   Maybe the local media should ask better questions instead of assuming this is the same old Bears offense?  Normally you'd expect the national media to be doing the easy hot takes on practice with the local media understanding what's really going on.   The local reporters should be embarrassed they got scooped by Breer.  

[adam]

2 hours ago, AZ54 said:

 This kind of a comment comes from paranoid Bears fans who need to feel better about the direction of the team (not excluding myself from that).   Maybe the local media should ask better questions instead of assuming this is the same old Bears offense?  Normally you'd expect the national media to be doing the easy hot takes on practice with the local media understanding what's really going on.   The local reporters should be embarrassed they got scooped by Breer.  

The Bears Beat Reporters have almost become a cult. They are so self-focused. They tried to make a story out of nothing a lot, like the Caleb book excerpt thing even though every fan said "we don't care". The latest one was repeating that Johnson called the 1s off the field as a punishment when it was a timed thing and their time was up. Courtney Cronin, who used to be good, has consistently fallen into this category lately. 

[BearFan PHX]

48 minutes ago, adam said:

The Bears Beat Reporters have almost become a cult. They are so self-focused. They tried to make a story out of nothing a lot, like the Caleb book excerpt thing even though every fan said "we don't care". The latest one was repeating that Johnson called the 1s off the field as a punishment when it was a timed thing and their time was up. Courtney Cronin, who used to be good, has consistently fallen into this category lately. 

this is right. some little thing gets reported and then it becomes all anyone talks about and then the analysis where they predict the entire career of someone based on this little tidbit. And the funny thing is the tidbit is random, there are thousands of them but only a few get reported. Its all narrative and no analysis.

As for Courtney Cronin, I have always liked her and she does seem to ask the tough questions. I havent noticed her falling into that category, but then again I dont watch her on Pat the Designer, and that is a highly narrative driven show, so maybe shes fitting in I dunno.

Im not saying youre wrong about CC I just havent seen it (yet?) - I hope she returns to form if shes off, because she is (was?) one of the better ones.

[Mongo3451]

50 minutes ago, BearFan PHX said:

Im not saying youre wrong about CC I just havent seen it (yet?) - I hope she returns to form if shes off, because she is (was?) one of the better ones.

Same.  I think she's fantastic.

[AZ54]

The battle for the last receiving spot is heating up.  JP Richardson has been putting on a show.  Tyler Scott has not.  It seems Olamide is getting plenty of action as well.  According to CHGO Richardson has not been doing special teams work yet but he was a good punt returner in college.  If Richardson is moving up in the coaches eyes that's something to watch for because he'll need to show special teams value to make the roster.  

There are also battles at CB.   Stevenson and Smith are splitting first team reps.  Meanwhile Nahshon Wright stepped in consistently for Jaylon Johnson.  

I'll be watching for news on the safeties as well this week.  I liked what I saw of Tysheem Johnson coming out of college.  Can he contend for a spot against Jonathan Owens who IMO played poorly last year.  

[adam]

3 hours ago, BearFan PHX said:

this is right. some little thing gets reported and then it becomes all anyone talks about and then the analysis where they predict the entire career of someone based on this little tidbit. And the funny thing is the tidbit is random, there are thousands of them but only a few get reported. Its all narrative and no analysis.

As for Courtney Cronin, I have always liked her and she does seem to ask the tough questions. I havent noticed her falling into that category, but then again I dont watch her on Pat the Designer, and that is a highly narrative driven show, so maybe shes fitting in I dunno.

Im not saying youre wrong about CC I just havent seen it (yet?) - I hope she returns to form if shes off, because she is (was?) one of the better ones.

There have been a few. She asked Burden if he should've left school after his sophomore year (he would not have been NFL eligible). 

She recently asked Grady Jarrett about locker placement and who sits next to him. Of all the questions you could ask Grady Jarrett, she felt that one needed to be answered?

I don't know what has gotten into her lately (no pun intended), but she really has been asking some oddball questions.

[adam]

2 hours ago, AZ54 said:

The battle for the last receiving spot is heating up.  JP Richardson has been putting on a show.  Tyler Scott has not.  It seems Olamide is getting plenty of action as well.  According to CHGO Richardson has not been doing special teams work yet but he was a good punt returner in college.  If Richardson is moving up in the coaches eyes that's something to watch for because he'll need to show special teams value to make the roster.  

There are also battles at CB.   Stevenson and Smith are splitting first team reps.  Meanwhile Nahshon Wright stepped in consistently for Jaylon Johnson.  

I'll be watching for news on the safeties as well this week.  I liked what I saw of Tysheem Johnson coming out of college.  Can he contend for a spot against Jonathan Owens who IMO played poorly last year.  

Not that he matters at this point, but has anyone heard or seen anything about Tyler Scott? I can see him as an easy cut candidate.  Wasted draft pick, could've been Puka or Demario Douglas, or even Chase Brown (hopefully Roschon shows out so it wouldn't matter).

[BearFan PHX]

The question to burden was about her misreading the year code. It got messed up due to covid or something, and she saw 2 years, but didnt realize he wasnt a sophomore. She owned that one, and while it was dumb, it makes sense what confused her.

As for those personal type questions, often reporters are looking for quotes. They might want to write about Grady's leadership for example, and so she asks who he sits next to, maybe hoping to hear about a young player he is mentoring?

When things are more visible, we will see if she gets back to the tough questions. For a while there she was the only one really asking them.

[Stinger226]

1 hour ago, adam said:

Not that he matters at this point, but has anyone heard or seen anything about Tyler Scott? I can see him as an easy cut candidate.  Wasted draft pick, could've been Puka or Demario Douglas, or even Chase Brown (hopefully Roschon shows out so it wouldn't matter).

Yes its a wasted 3rd round pick but to suggest we missed out on Puka is reaching. He was pick 177, everyone passed on Puka many times. Looking back at drafting and then finding players that did well in the draft behind Scott is wasted breath. Those statements should be made when the draft is complete, like we should have took Puka instead before knew how good he was. 

I like CC a lot, a very well spoken smart lady of football, but she is good at pushing narratives. Before the draft she said insiders said we were trading up to 5th pick and taking Jeanty. I seen 4 different podcasts she was guested on and was liike guarranting it. Then after the fact, the cost of the trade was to much cost. I think if Jeanty was there at 10, we would have taken him but they wanted more draft picks not trading them away. The Raiders were definitily going to take him, I think the Bears planned on how the draft was going to fall and expected to take Loveland.

BJ said every job was in competetion and JP getting reps and Scott invisible lets us know, he's gone.

[BearFan PHX]

50 minutes ago, Stinger226 said:

Yes its a wasted 3rd round pick but to suggest we missed out on Puka is reaching. He was pick 177, everyone passed on Puka many times. Looking back at drafting and then finding players that did well in the draft behind Scott is wasted breath. Those statements should be made when the draft is complete, like we should have took Puka instead before knew how good he was. 

I like CC a lot, a very well spoken smart lady of football, but she is good at pushing narratives. Before the draft she said insiders said we were trading up to 5th pick and taking Jeanty. I seen 4 different podcasts she was guested on and was liike guarranting it. Then after the fact, the cost of the trade was to much cost. I think if Jeanty was there at 10, we would have taken him but they wanted more draft picks not trading them away. The Raiders were definitily going to take him, I think the Bears planned on how the draft was going to fall and expected to take Loveland.

BJ said every job was in competetion and JP getting reps and Scott invisible lets us know, he's gone.

she never guaranteed that both sides would make the trade - she said there was strong interest and they were talking. And i am sure that we did talk to them, but it sounds like the price was too high.

But thats not a narrative. A narrative is when you conclude some total outcome, like that a player will be good or bad based on one detail. It's a story more than a fact that gets passed around again and again until people start making conclusions from it.

"Bears will fail because Caleb paints his nails" is a good example of a narrative.

"Bears wont take ______ because his arms are too short" is another example of a narrative.

That the Bears were sniffing around Jeanty isnt a narrative, if shes hearing that from league sources.

If instead she said "Bears are sniffing around Jeanty so they wont take Henderson" THAT would be a narrative.