From Captains to Cadence: Bears ready for season opener vs Vikings

Ariana Pensy · Correspondent · 12 hours ago

CHICAGO - Ben Johnson’s debut as a head coach in the NFL is just days away. In preparation for that, he had the players vote on team captains and it may come as a surprise that two players who have been captains the past two years - wide receiver DJ Moore and linebacker Tremaine Edmunds - are not this year.

Johnson is not concerned about how players may perceive this, as he made it clear how the voting process would work.

“The way I approached it was you’re going to get voted by your peers, kind of gave them some criteria what we’re looking at from a work ethic standpoint to being challenging yet supportive of your teammates to what it looks like on the field to what it looks like off the field and some things to think about and then the next day, they came in and they voted and I told them I didn’t know how many guys we were going to have overall. We’re going to kind of look at the numbers and take it from there,” Johnson said. “But, had in my head somewhere between three to five, one or two on offense, one or two on defense and one on special teams and just the way it played out number-wise, it made the most sense to go with five here this year and (I) don’t even know who was a captain a year ago and so, I don’t feel like we need to go out of our way talking about last year anymore.”

Chicago’s season opener against the Minnesota Vikings on Mon. Sept. 8 (7:15 p.m. / ABC) also presents an excellent opportunity for quarterback Caleb Williams to demonstrate his development from his rookie year to the present. Williams has a much greater offensive mind to learn from in Johnson, who is also referred to as the “quarterback whisperer.”

Right now, Chicago’s second-year quarterback is taking everything in so he can become the best version of himself for this organization.

“He’s so young and there’s a lot he’s learning. But, he’s a sponge right now. He was up in my office a couple days ago and we watched a couple games together and the entire time, anything I would say, I see him jotting it down in his notebook and that’s an encouraging thing right now with where we’re at,” Johnson said. “We’re going to grow together. This offense is going to grow together with him and there’ll be some bumpy steps along the way, but that’s okay. That’s the nature of doing it. But, I feel really good about where he’s at right now and there’s no reason why we can’t win this year.”

Last season, one of the rookie hurdles Williams faced was learning to master the cadence. It was not something he used as much in college.

But, using the cadence as a weapon is a valuable tool in the NFL and something Johnson has been working on with Williams since he arrived as well as using various motions and shifts to throw opposing defenses off.

“It’s a weapon that we’re going to use, (the) cadence, the motions, the shifts. I think this day and age (in) football, I think it’s a huge advantage for the offense when you can use that to attack the defense,” Johnson said. “So, he’s done a nice job being able to digest that and we’re trying to find that right balancing act for a young player that’s still learning some new concepts, how much operationally we want to put on his plate.”

One thing that will be interesting to see on Monday is who is getting the ball. The Bears have a good problem offensively - they have a lot of talented pass catchers. Between receivers Moore and Rome Odunze, as well as tight end Cole Kmet, who were with the team last season, Chicago added tight end Colston Loveland via the NFL Draft and receiver Olamide Zaccheaus via free agency.

It is also something Johnson is trying to manage as he wants all of his playmakers to get opportunities.

“It’s (sharing) the wealth. That’s what keeps me up at night is trying to make sure that all of our horses are fed because these guys, they’re super talented players and we just need to get them a little space and the ball in their hands and they can make big things happen,” Johnson said. So, I’ve been pretty transparent to them in the spring and so far in camp that if you’re active on game day, we’re going to have a role for you. We’ll have some jobs for you and how big that is is really dictated on how well you practice and really your track record going up into the week.”