Bears coach Ben Johnson offers response to Jaguars' coach knock on Bears' popularity
Bears Day 2 Camp Report: Offense Shines + Rome Odunze clears the air | Chicago Sports Tonight
Fox Chicago's Cassie Carlson and Devan Kaney report from Halas Hall following an explosive Day 2 of Bears Training Camp. Caleb Williams and the offense were firing on all cylinders; Rome Oduze clears the air on his foot injury and sets lofty goals this season. Plus, second-year WR Luther Burden shines across the field as he builds chemistry with Williams in Year 2 of Ben Johnson's offense.
There's not much from the outside airwaves that enters Halas Hall once the Chicago Bears get into football mode.
Bears coach Ben Johnson was asked about a sitting NFL head coach's open thoughts about how popular the Bears are, and responded to it in the way you might think he would.
The backstory:
Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen went on 1010 XL and mentioned how the NFL isn't shying away from how popular Bears quarterback Caleb Williams is.
This was in comparison to how much popularity his team has.
"I think I'll see about 40 pictures of Caleb Williams," Coen said. "I won't see a single thing about any of our players."
Johnson was asked about that statement, and responded to it in a manner that makes it clear no one outside of Halas Hall will have an influence on anything that happens internally with the Bears.
As the worst-to-first team that will now become the hunted in 2026, Johnson said the Bears will find motivation for their locker room in plenty of avenues this season that don't revolve around what others say.
"Well, we're the No. 1 regression candidate," Johnson said. "I think we've got plenty of motivation ourselves."
What's next:
Training camp will keep ongoing for the Bears. There won't be any word outside of Halas Hall that causes any issue.
Partially because the Bears are a pretty self-aware team. It starts with the Bears knowing their players, specifically Williams.
Williams has been in the spotlight since high school. He'll continue to be in the limelight as he gets better, too.
"We've talked about Caleb in the past, he's used to handling a lot of attention," Johnson said. "I'm not worried about that."