Ben Johnson already flipping page to 2026 following successful season
Days after players packed up their locker room before heading into the offseason, coach Ben Johnson said he is already locked into the 2026 season.
During a season-ending press conference on Wednesday, Johnson and Bears General Manager Ryan Poles both emphasized a back-to-square-one mentality for the team despite their success this season.
One place they both agree they're not at square one is the quarterback position, where Caleb Williams took a big step forward, but with still clear areas to improve.
"The things that we highlighted for Caleb to start the season, I did think, they improved as the season went along. We revamped the footwork a little bit last spring, and I think the comfort level grew from that. He certainly got more comfortable with the concepts we were running over the course of the season. I'm really encouraged about the steps he took this year. I'm Caleb Williams number one believer," Johnson said.
"When you watch his college tape, you knew that some of those wild throws were part of his game," Poles said. "I would say the one thing that stands out is that I was happy to see come back was just his pocket presence, ability to escape, I think that's a rare trait that he has."
Already referring to it as "last season," Johnson emphasized that what they did this season doesn't matter much next fall.
"We go back to square one. It's back to the bottom again, and we gotta build this thing back up, you know, Ryan and I have some difficult decisions to make. It was really hard to accomplish what we accomplished, and it wasn't good enough, and it's going to be that much harder to put ourselves in that position again next season," he said.
"We can't be complacent, we gotta keep pushing forward. We both come from organizations that have stacked success, back-to-back years, and we know the challenge that comes with having success and trying to get back to that the following year," Poles said.
The Bears have some decisions to make on defense, including four free agents at safety. Poles said point-blank that all-pro Kevin Byard is a special player who they'd like to have back. On offense, most of that core group should return.
"We made a number of strides, okay? And Ryan did a phenomenal job acquiring talent, particularly on the offensive side of the ball. We've got weapons on the perimeter. Our quarterback's going to be a special player in this league. We haven't even scratched the surface of what we're fully capable of," Johnson said.
As far as Caleb's final pass of the season, Johnson said he hasn't studied the tape enough to really get into what went wrong with DJ Moore and Caleb on the play, but he did take the blame for any miscommunication, and both he and Poles spoke highly of the veteran receiver, who is their highest-salaried player for next year.
"I'll use his words. He didn't care about stats, all he cared about winning, was the most winning DJ Moore ever had probably since high school. In terms of roster, like I said, we got a lot of decisions to make in figuring that out. I think what stood out about DJ this year is the level of toughness rubbed off on our team," Poles said.
The Bears were among the worst teams in the league in dropped passes this season. Johnson said point-blank, "We gotta do a better job catching the football next season," saying it will be a point of emphasis when they return in the spring.
Left tackle may be the biggest question mark on offense. Rookie Ozzy Trapilo already had surgery on his torn patellar tendon, an injury that Poles says will keep him out "deep into next year."