You didn't need 20/20 vision or a pair of binoculars to find Ben Johnson during Wednesday's OTA practice at Halas Hall.

The sound of the first-year Bears coach's voice could also be heard throughout the workout inside the Walter Payton Center—whether he was offering encouragement or correcting a player who was not lined up properly.

"The intensity level of Ben Johnson I feel like is very evident," safety Kevin Byard III told reporters. "You guys can see that, a couple of times where he's stopping practice. You can definitely hear him out there."

Johnson's fiery approach to practice is the embodiment of what he has emphasized since becoming Bears coach in January: accountability, creating a winning culture and raising the standard at Halas Hall.

"That's what you look for," said linebacker Tremaine Edmunds. "You want a coach that's fired up, you want a coach with energy like that and you want a coach that cares about winning and winning in a dominant fashion. I definitely feel that energy from him."

One veteran player no doubt felt that energy Wednesday when he lined up in the wrong spot and received an earful from Johnson, who stressed that the interaction was necessary and nothing out of the ordinary.

"It's the way we're coaching every position right now," Johnson said. "Particularly on offense from me, and then on defense with 'DA' (Dennis Allen), every position's heard it the same way. We're just communicating. It's loud in there. Sometimes your voice gets a little bit elevated at times. We're just communicating that it's not good enough and we need a little bit better."

Veteran defensive tackle Grady Jarrett appreciates Johnson, Allen and the rest of the coaching staff holding players to a high standard.

"It's our job as players to put our best foot forward every day to reach what's expected of us," said Jarrett, who signed with the Bears this year after spending his first 10 NFL seasons with the Falcons. "We're never going to be perfect, but the strive to reach it, that can breed excellence.

"I'm excited for the standard that [Johnson] is setting for everybody across the board. This isn't a program where you try to be guys' friends and hope they buy in. Nope, you have to get with it. I've been around for a long time and that's the kind of culture you have to set early."

The presence of Johnson and Allen has ratcheted up the competition between the offense and defense in practice.

"That's what you want," Edmunds said. "That's what develops a good football team. You've got this side that's competing like crazy and this side competing like crazy; collectively when it comes together, it's a good thing.

"That's what you look for. That [equates] to high intensity, everybody competing at a high level. And it brings a dog out of everybody. At the end of the day, a dog wants to play with a dog, and you feel that energy, you feel that love from everybody. It's going to make you step up your game, for sure."

One of the veteran players the Bears are counting on to help establish a winning culture is left guard Joe Thuney. The four-time All-Pro was acquired in a trade this year after winning four Super Bowls—two under Bill Belichick with the Patriots and two under Andy Reid with the Chiefs.

On Wednesday, Thuney lauded Johnson, especially for his work in the classroom.

"During the meetings I've just been really impressed," Thuney said. "I'm learning a lot. He communicates things very clearly on what he wants and what he expects, which makes it easy for us players because we know exactly what to do and just have to go execute. It's been awesome."

Thuney has been just as pleased with Johnson's offensive assistants.

"The position coaches have been detailed as well, breaking down the offense when we get into our position groups," Thuney said. "You can tell with the walkthroughs, the workouts, the training sessions, people in the weight room, there's a lot of attention to detail, focus and intensity, and I love it."