Ben Johnson Threw Bears Players A Nasty Curveball At Latest Practice

They've been saying for weeks that Ben Johnson doesn't mess around when it comes to practice. The new Chicago Bears head coach takes it as seriously as anybody who has held that job in the last two decades. Players quickly discovered what happens when they make mistakes or don't do precisely as instructed. Johnson already has a reputation for intensity and a firm hand. Everybody from Cole Kmet and D.J. Moore to others admits it's been a wake-up call. Johnson demands perfection.

He also isn't afraid to put pressure on guys mentally. Not in the form of motivation, mind you. More like a professor dropping a pop quiz to gauge what they've learned. Players got the equivalent of that at Wednesday's minicamp practice. According to Scott Bair of Marquee Sports Network, Johnson conducted several 11-on-11 drills where the entire playbook was opened up. Even wilder was that there was no script involved. Usually, there are in practice. Johnson wanted to see how guys responded to more game-like situations.

Johnson conducted a more competitive practice on Wednesday that was designed to test what players have learned to this point. They ran situational drills of all types, generally in 11-on-11 situations.

The biggest part of it: those sessions were unscripted.

“Really everything that had been installed over the last few weeks was up, and we’ll see the tape to see who handled it and who didn’t,” Johnson said. “Some guys (did) better than others. You could tell out there. But it was good to see. It felt more like football even though we don’t have the pads on.”

Ben Johnson is living up to the promise he made.

One of his first comments to the players during his introductory press conference was to get comfortable being uncomfortable. That didn't just mean adding competition to the roster. Ben Johnson aimed to find every way possible to stress guys. It isn't out of some weird psychological kink. The Bears head coach wants to win a championship. Only teams that can handle the pressure win Lombardi trophies. Too many times in years past, this team has crumbled under pressure. Johnson knows that throwing them unexpected curveballs in practice will better prepare them for the real thing in games. They'll be better prepared to deliver in decisive moments once they get used to dealing with surprise twists and turns during a season. It will also help him weed out guys who aren't up to the task.