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The Chicago Bears finished as one of the best running teams in football last season.
With Ben Johnson at the team's head coach, that shouldn't come as a surprise given how much emphasis he places on the run game. Johnson personally leads the Bears' run install meetings, highlighting just how vital it is to his offense."
[READ:Bears Training Camp Practice 3: Caleb Williams, Colston Loveland Shine]
"I suppose I did that to a degree in Detroit as well — but it's just one voice," Johnson said. "It's important to me and I love the thought of us as a whole unit, everyone's hearing it together, how important the wideouts are to the success of the play, where we need them, how important the quarterback is in terms of his fake and the ball handling in order for it all to work together. Then, of course, the magic really starts with the offensive line. Hopefully it gives them a little bit of confidence that within a game they can come to me and I'll know exactly what they're taught. Hey, we need a little bit more of this or can you dive into this a little bit more? I love that back and forth and being able to speak the same language as them.”
Although the Bears ended with the third-most rushing yards last season (2,456), that doesn't guarantee the team will achieve that level of success again. That's why training camp is an important time to hone in on the technique that will become essential once the regular season begins.
The Bears are not in pads yet, but this time in helmets is still a valuable time for the run game's development.
"You can see our get-off, you can see our pad level, you can see our aiming points," Johnson said. "I tweaked the run install this summer for really the first time that I've been calling it because of that, because we don't have the pads on for these first four days. Hopefully it's going to give us more time on task with some concepts that are, I'm not going to say more finesse, but just not as downhill double-team mentality. It's been good for us. I thought we got better from day one to day two in that regard. (Offensive Line) Coach (Dan) Roushar, (Assistant Offensive Line) Coach (Kyle) DeVan, they really like it. I think it's been a good start."
Roushar told Johnson the other day that 11 of his 16 players on the offensive line have played snaps in the regular season, highlighting the depth for the position group. While five starters take the field, offensive line play relies on total cohesion, and Johnson wants his fingerprints all over that unit to give Chicago its best shot at success this season.
"We have a lot of experience even though we do have some youth in there and it's going to be a heck of a competition," Johnson said. "I'm looking forward to it. We’ve got our tackle play. We got a lot of guys that are in the mix there. Then interior, I feel really strong about where we are there as well. We're going to have some tough decisions when it comes down to it, but we won't be able to gauge that until of course the next couple of weeks once we really get going.”
Continue reading...
With Ben Johnson at the team's head coach, that shouldn't come as a surprise given how much emphasis he places on the run game. Johnson personally leads the Bears' run install meetings, highlighting just how vital it is to his offense."
[READ:Bears Training Camp Practice 3: Caleb Williams, Colston Loveland Shine]
"I suppose I did that to a degree in Detroit as well — but it's just one voice," Johnson said. "It's important to me and I love the thought of us as a whole unit, everyone's hearing it together, how important the wideouts are to the success of the play, where we need them, how important the quarterback is in terms of his fake and the ball handling in order for it all to work together. Then, of course, the magic really starts with the offensive line. Hopefully it gives them a little bit of confidence that within a game they can come to me and I'll know exactly what they're taught. Hey, we need a little bit more of this or can you dive into this a little bit more? I love that back and forth and being able to speak the same language as them.”
Although the Bears ended with the third-most rushing yards last season (2,456), that doesn't guarantee the team will achieve that level of success again. That's why training camp is an important time to hone in on the technique that will become essential once the regular season begins.
The Bears are not in pads yet, but this time in helmets is still a valuable time for the run game's development.
"You can see our get-off, you can see our pad level, you can see our aiming points," Johnson said. "I tweaked the run install this summer for really the first time that I've been calling it because of that, because we don't have the pads on for these first four days. Hopefully it's going to give us more time on task with some concepts that are, I'm not going to say more finesse, but just not as downhill double-team mentality. It's been good for us. I thought we got better from day one to day two in that regard. (Offensive Line) Coach (Dan) Roushar, (Assistant Offensive Line) Coach (Kyle) DeVan, they really like it. I think it's been a good start."
Roushar told Johnson the other day that 11 of his 16 players on the offensive line have played snaps in the regular season, highlighting the depth for the position group. While five starters take the field, offensive line play relies on total cohesion, and Johnson wants his fingerprints all over that unit to give Chicago its best shot at success this season.
"We have a lot of experience even though we do have some youth in there and it's going to be a heck of a competition," Johnson said. "I'm looking forward to it. We’ve got our tackle play. We got a lot of guys that are in the mix there. Then interior, I feel really strong about where we are there as well. We're going to have some tough decisions when it comes down to it, but we won't be able to gauge that until of course the next couple of weeks once we really get going.”
Continue reading...
