Despite the Bears' 0-2 start, first-year coach Ben Johnson remains confident in his players and the team's ability to turn things around.
"It is early in the season," Johnson said. "There are a number of teams that have started the season not the way that they would like to and yet they bounce back, and they find a way to win. We're going to be playing our best football in December. I know that to be certain. We're just in a race right now to get better in a hurry, and the faster we get there, the wins will start coming and we'll be just fine."
Asked about last Sunday's loss in Detroit, Johnson said: "There were things all over the tape on all three phases that we're looking to clean up."
"I thought, as a whole, they played a little bit harder than us," he added. "And that's a reflection of me as a coach. That's a reflection of our coaching staff and it's a reflection of our players too. When you play a good team like that on the road, you've got to be all out every single snap and that was just not the case."
As the Bears prepare to host the Cowboys Sunday at Soldier Field, Johnson indicated that there would be "a lot more competition" this week in practice.
"We're going to find out … who wants to practice hard and who wants to be a little bit more involved with the game plan going into Sunday," he said.
Johnson told reporters Wednesday that "our practice habits are yet to reflect a championship-caliber team."
"We should be going to the football, finishing hard," he said. "We talk about it all the time with the offensive players that our fundamentals, our finish and our technique, they need to show up in walk through, they need to show up on the practice field. That's how it shows up on game day. Simple things of, 'How do we properly block? How do we catch the ball? How do we block after the catch?'
"Ball security and things like that. It's the little things that you learn in youth league football that even at this level, they make a huge difference."
Good to see
One highlight in last Sunday's game against the Lions came in the first quarter when 2024 top-10 draft picks Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze connected on a 28-yard touchdown pass that tied the score 7-7.
Beating a blitz, Williams hit Odunze across the middle. The receiver caught the ball at the 24, turned up the left sideline and eluded a defender near the goal line.
"That was both a combination of really good protection, good ball placement by the quarterback, and a little bit of a breakdown in coverage, in my opinion, in which case that's where explosives happen," Johnson said. "When someone's a little bit off on their side and we're doing things properly on our side, then big plays can happen. So, it was good to see. It was really good to see."
Injury update
Cornerback Jaylon Johnson did not practice Wednesday due to a groin injury he sustained against the Lions. While Ben Johnson acknowledged that the two-time Pro Bowler would not play versus Dallas, no long-term prognosis was given.
"Really nothing official has been decided yet with him, so no update there," Ben Johnson said. "I don't see him being out there this week, and hopefully we'll have some clarity here in the near future."
In other injury news Wednesday, defensive tackle Grady Jarrett (knee), linebacker T.J. Edwards (hamstring) and cornerbacks Kyler Gordon (hamstring) and Jaylon Jones (hamstring) did not practice. Running back D'Andre Swift (quad), receiver Jahdae Walker (ankle), offensive tackle Kiran Amegadjie (elbow) and linebacker D'Marco Jackson (hamstring) were limited.
Turning the page
Johnson is not concerned about cornerback Tyrique Stevenson losing confidence after Sunday's game in Detroit.
"That's the beautiful thing about that position," Johnson said. "You have to have a short memory within a game because you're going to get beat and then you have to turn the page really quick. For a week-to-week basis as well.
"He's not a guy that lacks for confidence. I know he's going to come up, he's going to press, he's going to challenge. He's going to get right back on that horse and get after it again. That's how he is. It's in his DNA. He was like that. He's a south Florida guy. That's my experience with most of those guys, is that. He really exemplifies that."
