I don’t know what really goes on at the owner’s meetings. Sometimes it feels like the NFL just likes filler; however, Cronin and other beat reporters did get some nuggets.
Courtney Cronin@CourtneyRCronin
·Mar 30
Some takeaways from Ben Johnson’s 30-minute session at the NFC coaches breakfast
-Said he found out about Drew Dalman’s decision to retire in mid-February. Team quickly pivoted to Garrett Bradbury, who they believe “will fit us like a glove”
-Johnson on left tackle: “There’s a lot of uncertainty there.” Said he’s not sure the Bears will have Ozzy Trapilo during the 2026 season after Trapilo suffered a “pretty serious injury” with his ruptured patellar tendon.” Johnson said it’s hard to say what the Bears left tackle position will look like this year or in five years.
-Braxton Jones is up to 310 pounds and looked “yolked” when Johnson saw him come in to sign his contract during free agency. Said Jones is eager to get his career trajectory back on track.
-Johnson isn’t happy with the offensive staff for how they didn’t coach WRs to get open enough. Emphasized getting back to fundamentals in OTAs on catching the ball to address drop issues.
[This makes me wonder about Rome sticking. I feel like BJ covets quick-twitch athletes like Burden and Loveland – players who can separate with short area burst. That’s not Rome. Johnson also brought up how Rome and others must do better on scramble drills. Bears were 3rd worst in drops, and 1st worst in dropped yardage.]
-Johnson and the Bears staff recently turned on the tape from Family Fest at Soldier Field in early August 2025 (the really sloppy practice that featured a bunch of delay of game penalties) to see where they were starting camp last year and how much further ahead they want to be in OTAs with the offense.
-New OC Press Taylor (formerly the passing game coordinator) is “the most organized coach I’ve ever been around” per Johnson. Noted his “library of plays” for how to beat different defenses and how he organizes information as a benefit to Johnson in Taylor’s new role.
-Johnson said coaches will be “hyper vigilant” to any complacency and entitlement after the success of last season. While he was happy to hear from fans/supporters “for about a week” about how exciting the 2025 season was, he said he doesn’t want to hear anymore about how good the Bears were as they have moved on to 2026.
-New safety Coby Bryant wowed Johnson with a ‘holy cow, it-factor’ in terms of his leadership. Will be a critical piece to replace the leadership void created by Kevin Byard’s departure.
-Johnson noted how “challenging” it was to form relationships with Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon last year given how both missed significant time with injuries. “We’re starting over completely this spring” with their relationships so he has a better chance to get to know these players.
Don’t be shocked if Ben Johnson wants a LT at #25. Ryan Poles was front and center for the Bama proday and apparently met with Kadyn Proctor — a 6-foot-7, 352-pound offensive tackle
Bearsszn@bearszn
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Bears GM Ryan Poles says the team will stay disciplined with their “best player available” draft philosophy even if that means drafting offense over defense:
“You look at the draft, when I’ve been here, we’ve taken the right mentality and taken the best available. That’s been very offensive centric and I think that’s paid off for us. We got an All-Pro tackle (Darnell Wright) and Colston’s going to be All-Pro tight end. So, we’ve done some really good things there. It just hasn’t lined up to be defensive line…..I think the biggest mistake you can make is forcing something just because that’s what you need.”
via@HogeAndJahns









