'Everything matters': Ben Johnson welcomes pressure and unknown in his first Chicago Bears training camp

LAKE FOREST, Ill. - It won't be easy to be Ben Johnson this week.

Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles offered a few opening remarks, tied up some loose ends and officially handed the podium to Johnson. It's his show, now.

The Bears' head coach is opening his first training camp as a head coach, especially as one of the most sought-after coaching candidates of the offseason. He's tasked with righting the ship for Caleb Williams and elevating a roster where talent is there, but execution remains to be seen.

Johnson welcomes it all. Training camp will decide how the Johnson era begins.

"This is a race now," Johnson said. "This is the challenge that we want.

Now, the Bears dive into the unknown.

What we know:

The Bears are starting training camp with a blank slate. That's what Johnson wants, and he'll have that to start this week.

There's so much for the Bears to figure out. Case in point, who will play left tackle?

Johnson said that's a three-player race between incumbent starter Braxton Jones, 2024 third-round pick Kiran Amegadije and rookie Ozzy Trapilo.

Jones will have the benefit of starting the last three seasons at left tackle for the Bears. But, that won't be a reason why he wins the job.

"His experience will help him, but we're coming in with a blank slate," Johnson said.

There's still a lot to figure out schematically for the Bears, too.

Johnson, the heralded offensive guru, doesn't know what kind of scheme the Bears will lean into. They'll figure that out in training camp as the team finds out what schemes the players will play the best in. 

"I don’t know if we’re going to be a wide zone team up front," Johnson said. "I don’t know if we’re going to be a gap team."

Add that to the list of things to figure out. 

What's next:

With so much to be determined, the Bears will begin to figure it all out in camp.

Camp starts Wednesday, with Johnson holding 8:30 a.m. practices where he'll see what kind of players he has on his roster. Not only will Johnson have to see what he has in his team, he'll have to earn the trust of that team, too.

Easier said than done with a roster that includes players on their third head coach in four years.

"The next six weeks is about us coming together," Johnson said. "It's hard to earn, and it's really easy to lose that trust."

This is why Johnson said the Bears will put a lot of weight into the joint practices in terms of evaluating development. There are two this preseason with the Dolphins and Bills, along with three preseason games.

With so much that needs to fall into place, perhaps the biggest words Johnson said will echo with every practice rep seen over the next six weeks.

"Everything matters," Johnson said.