Ben Johnson - Offensive Coordinator, bears Event: Press Conference | Date: 2026-09-20 | Full transcript (primary source).
Ben Johnson, Offensive Coordinator for the Bears, addressed the media following the team's recent game on September 20, 2026. In the press conference, he discussed player injuries, the challenges faced during the match, and the overall performance of both the offense and defense.
Transcript
Johnson: So two guys to talk about there Caleb with a hamstring and then Tyreke with a hamstring as well. So we'll see where they're at tomorrow. You know, we said it at halftime just to the team that it was gonna come down to the very end. When you're facing a good opponent like this, conditions were or the way that they were, you know points were gonna be few and far between when it's like that. And so you can kind of feel that in the first half and sure enough that came down to the very end there. You know, proud of how our guys went out and they fought and they battled. It's not an easy game to compete in, you know, you're an offensive player and you're not getting many touches and yet, you know you want to just find a way to get out of that thing with the W. And you know, Tyson comes in he makes some big throws for us. I thought he operated it really well and put us in a position. You know overall, you look at what got us in the first half offensively we had way too many penalties. I think we had seven in the first half really threw us off course a little bit. And against a good defense like that, you just you can't shoot yourself in the foot. We have way too many turnovers, the block field goal hurts and then you know, we had missed red zone opportunities just as a whole. So proud of how our defense played throughout that game. I thought they really competed their tails off and kept us in it for the most part. They brought a lot of energy and it was good to see them respond the way that they did. So I'll open it up from there.
Unknown: Yeah, I just I just saw him a second ago he's in good spirits.
Unknown: Yeah, well it could be. We got a look at that because I mean we practiced a lot of this stuff throughout the week and we didn't run into those issues, so we'll take a look at what it was that was a little bit off and what we'll get it cleaned up.
Unknown: Yeah, I mean you could kind of see in real time again I'm actually happy it's nothing with the knee, you know, that's that was my first inclination. But yet a hamstring could be pretty pretty damaging as well. So we'll see how bad it is tomorrow and you know, we'll go from there. But yeah, it's quickly you got to turn the page and particularly when you're right there we need to point desperately at that point.
Unknown: And you know shame Was that due to what you expect the patient the business was that about the weather some combination of both?
Unknown: Yeah a little bit of both. You know, he's heavy in base defense anyways and on first and second down and so you know, we just felt like that was the way we wanted to play this one.
Unknown: Reuse I know you said it was hard to predict what florist is gonna do, but I think it's 77 percent of Caleb's dropbacks he was blitzed on was that?
Unknown: Yeah, I mean early on you kind of feel like okay, that's what he wants it's not like game one last year that's for sure. So yeah, it's there's some things that you know looking back at a I'd love to do a little bit differently. And yet, I mean, it's that's what makes it so challenging to go against this guy. I think he did a great job and you know, we get a little momentum coming out of halftime there and we make it all the way down and then you know, we kind of we kind of give it up. We get we had some points in the bag I thought so you know, we just we got to make sure we capitalize on every opportunity we get when we face a good defense like that.
Unknown: Yeah, you know it seemed like we hit a few. Our guys came out and and all on the same page. You know, it just felt like the running game in general was a little bit sporadic throughout that game. Some like you said at a halftime it was a little bit better and then other parts of the game it was a little bit more challenging to get that going. When I looked at it at halftime, I think the backs were averaging two yards a carry. So obviously not something we want to hang our hat on. Look at it and find out why exactly. But but yeah, like I said, I was proud of how they competed there in the second half gave us some opportunities.
Unknown: Second to last play the one six seconds left that incomplete with one second left before it before he got that one. The operation goes quickly as you wanted it to?
Unknown: Mm-hmm. Yeah, I'll look at it that again. I mean everything was moving fast at that point in time. So yeah, I mean it was good though. When you call play with that much time left, I know there's a chance that that's the last play of the game right there. So when it was incomplete with one second, it was it was good that we had one more shot.
Unknown: Today.
Unknown: Yeah, no, he's a he's a huge part of of what we want to be about man, he's embraced all that. He's staying positive. He knew that this could be one of those type of games where you know I told him all week you got to be patient got to be patient got to be patient night. I thought he was that throughout, you know, he's getting hit a little bit and like you said, the penalties are certainly frustrating but no, he did a great job staying positive throughout it all.
Unknown: Yeah, that was the plan. Call plays for him all preseason, so we'll be fine. He's doing a great job, he's doing a great job, it's a challenging day for a lot of people. Willy scored three points. So yeah, wait, we got we got a lot of guys that myself included I gotta do a better job for these guys.
Unknown: The weather was a major factor of this game is a big story of this game. Both defensive coordinators did a great job making it very challenging for the opposing offense. And so I thought that was the tail of the tape and like I said when you get into a game like this that's that's where every play is critical. That's where the turnovers really really hurt you and you know, obviously the blocked field goal really hurts us as well.
Unknown: Yeah, yeah, I mean they're they're disappointed. It's a divisional game. We'll get another chance at them later on and you know, we keep it moving it's early in the season.
Unknown: Well, they came out flying around and you know, I thought we had a great plan on that side of the ball made things challenging. We always talked about wanting to outrun and out hit our opponent and it felt like we had 11 guys around the ball for the majority of the game. So that was good to see.
