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'We are different': Ben Johnson, players ready to write 'a new chapter of Chicago Bears football'
Story by Gabby Hajduk

It's a Thursday afternoon at Halas Hall. 90 degrees, 60% humidity and the sun is beating down on the practice fields. The Bears are running a long-drive drill in full pads — the third time the grueling task has been part of the practice plan over the summer.

For 10 minutes, the same 22 players remain on the field, executing play after play starting from the 1-yard line. No breaks. No substitutions. No reprieve. Ones compete versus ones, followed by twos versus twos. On this specific day, the long drive drill caps off an already-taxing two-hour practice.

Training camp has already ended. There are no more fans to create a lively atmosphere. It's the hottest week in Chicago since players reported to camp. And the roster has already been cut down to 53 players, so each player is receiving additional reps.

It's the type of practice expected during the dog days of camp, in mid-August when coaches want to test what their team is made of.

But if you're Ben Johnson, it's the type of practice you hold the Thursday of Week 0, just 10 days before the 2026 season kicks off. While the players' blank stares and sweat-covered jerseys at the end of the drill may say differently, no one is second-guessing their coach.

All 69 players between the active roster and practice squad have grown accustomed to the challenges Johnson gives his players. They know everything they do boils down to one concept.

The Bears are different.

"I had a college coach when I first started coaching up at Boston College named Frank Spaziani," Johnson told ChicagoBears.com. "He kept bringing up, 'we're not better than anybody, but we are different.' And that's something that's always resonated.

"We take pride in being different, and I think our guys have really caught on to that. Our play style, how we practice, what it's like coming into the building on a daily basis, and it's something we can rally around. And really, they're starting to say it as much as the coaching staff is now at this point. So, it's just part of our culture."

Different is a word commonly used by those inside and outside Halas Hall to describe how things work now with Johnson at the helm. From a different level of physicality in practices to a different standard demanded and a different caliber of players in the locker room, the outlook is the same.

The 2026 Bears are on a different path.

"I think it's different in the sense of it's hard and it's demanding every day and maybe some places aren't like that all the time," tight end Cole Kmet, the longest tenured Bear, said. "We're gonna grind during training camp and it's a little old school in that sense, but it works for us and it works for the type of guys that they want here."

The 2025 Bears helped establish the type of culture Johnson wants to sustain long-term. The immediate buy-in to what Johnson was selling last spring when he first met with the team led to a thrilling season — the franchise's most successful since 2018 — for the players, staff inside Halas Hall and fans everywhere.

Despite that success, the Bears exited the playoffs two games short of their ultimate goal – winning a Super Bowl. So, while returning players and coaches can certainly take momentum and lessons from 2025 into 2026, Johnson demanded that this team, made up of nearly 50% newcomers, start from scratch in terms of identity.

Just because expectations were better understood this time around did not mean shortcuts would be allowed or that living up to the standard would be any easier.

"This is our chance to forge our identity," Johnson told reporters the first day of training camp. "A lot of coaches come up, and they say, 'We're going to be this, we're going to be that, and the other.'

"And yet, this is where it all happens. We've got a whole different group of guys than we did a year ago, and this is where it gets fun."

Fun meant different things throughout camp. Sometimes fun meant post-practice competitions, like assistant coaches seeing who could overhead-throw a medicine ball the farthest. (Isaiah Ford could, by the way). Or the offensive and defensive lines going head-to-head in fielding Cairo Santos' onside kick attempts.

But other times, fun actually meant the defensive rookies doing extra up-downs alongside their veteran counterparts who returned to practice later. Or hearing Johnson yell in the huddle after practice that the day's work "wasn't good enough."

All of those fun moments helped the Bears build calluses and establish their way.

"If we're going to be that team that plays with an edge in big moments, then we have to live on that edge, and that Thursday practice was the epitome of an edge day," veteran receiver Kalif Raymond said.

"It's important to go out there and to live what you're preaching."

Before the Bears played a preseason game or went on the road for joint practices, they had to begin defining their identity. The first two weeks of training camp were spent learning what made this group different.

"What is our standard every time we get on the field?" Raymond said. "It doesn't matter how the other team shows up. It doesn't matter where the stadium is. It doesn't matter — we have a standard of how we operate and how we do things.

"And a lot of that actually comes when you're not the person making a play. Blocking after the catch, chasing down the ball carrier. It's the ways, honestly, you work without the football. That's our standard and our way."

That process, however, actually started months before the July 27 report day. Following the Bears' Divisional Round overtime loss to the Rams at Soldier Field Jan. 18, Johnson urged his players to immediately turn the page. That chapter of Chicago Bears football, while incredibly memorable, had ended. The coach asked that players immediately begin penning the ensuing chapter, as he and his staff, alongside general manager Ryan Poles, would do the same.

For those in the front office, that meant intensive self-scouting and finding new pieces add to the roster. In free agency, Poles brought in a wealth of experience, from Super Bowl LX-winning safety Coby Bryant to veteran center and 2019 first-round pick Garrett Bradbury to Raymond, an NFL journeyman and familiar face to Johnson, to a speedy, violent linebacker in Devin Bush, as well as a group of three well-traveled defensive tackles: Neville Gallimore, Kentavius Street and James Lynch.

The 2026 free-agent class added talent and depth that mostly filled gaps from what was addressed with 2025's offseason additions, which featured guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson, who were instrumental in quarterback Caleb Williams and the young offense's growth. The Bears also locked up standout right tackle Darnell Wright last month.

All of those moves, in addition to the 2026 draft class highlighted by first-round safety Dillon Thieneman, whose football character was described by Poles as "off the charts," perfectly encapsulated the caliber of the players that Poles and Johnson are seeking.

"At the end of the day, as a coaching staff or organization, they can talk about what they want in a player, but guys look at who they pay," Kmet said. "If they're paying this type of guy, you think, 'okay, maybe I should be more like that.' That's what you're gonna follow. The guys that they decided to bring in or pay, they're looking for guys to do it their way.

"And it's definitely not an easy thing to buy into as to what's going on here. But when you have a huge collective like that, it just makes it so much easier. And that's where you're gonna see the culture shift by one individual at a time.

"There's really no time for guys that aren't willing to put in the work, and it really sticks out here."

The work officially began July 28 with the Bears' first practice. Prior to taking the field, Johnson's message in the team meeting that morning was simple.

"It's gonna be a grind," receiver Luther Burden III recalled. "It's not gonna be sunshine and rainbows."

No surprises there. Camp is a grind no matter what. Yet, it's the standard that Johnson, coordinators Dennis Allen, Richard Hightower and Press Taylor and their staffs demand out of both their players and themselves that is different. The key, though, is consistency in said standard.

Gallimore, a seven-year veteran who has spent time with four other teams, heard stories about the style of play Johnson and Allen require and what practices under them, both individually and now together, are like.

Yet, stories passed down from player to player like old wives' tales don't compare to experiencing it firsthand.

Multiple stretches of padded practices on consecutive days. 40 up-downs for every defensive player. Live periods where tackling to the ground is a requirement. Nasty 9-on-7 drills designed for linemen to wear each other down. Running plays over and over again until the pre-snap operation is perfect. Players trash-talking across the field. Pursuit drills. Short breaks between grueling periods. Full throttle every play without a drop in physicality.

"No matter what day it is, whether we've got a walk-through, whether it's a shorter practice, longer practice, pads on, pads off, the standard is still the same," Gallimore said. "When you get to a point where the live period and the non-live periods feel the same? Yeah, it's different.

"The non-padded practices, you don't really notice the drop off compared to where we put the pads on, except for we're not going to the ground. We're still striking. We're still getting off the ball. There's no shift."

That sense of urgency is what Gallimore is used to experiencing come Week 1. Maybe even a preseason game. Not each and every training camp day.

"That was an early sign of like, okay, there's a certain standard of how we practice and do things here," he said. "Being seven years in the league, you pick up on stuff like that really quickly, and it's like, there's no fluke on why things have taken a turn for the better as fast as they have.

"It's just different — the mindset, the mentality here. Everybody knows when we step on that field, we've gotta put a hard hat on."

Aug. 11's practice was another prime example of said standard. After two weeks of 8:30 a.m. practices that concluded before the sun hit its peak, the team shifted to afternoon sessions.

With their first preseason game versus the Browns at Soldier Field slated for that Saturday, Tuesday's practice was more of a scrimmage. Coaches sent out a "game plan" the night prior, and live period after live period made for camp's most physical practice.

"It was hot, it was a different schedule," Bradbury said. "We were in the heat of the day, and we were used to practicing in the morning. We had some longer drives, and some different situations. It was short-yardage goal line, which that's all about mental, physical toughness. We were backed up, which is the same thing."

Of course, Johnson still wanted to see precise execution from all three phases, but the scrimmage was more about who could withstand the elements, who could adapt, who could play fast and hard through fatigue.

"When you're tired, when you're in those tough moments, can you rise the occasion, focus, focus on the details, this assignment?" Bradbury said. "You've always got two people on your shoulder talking to you. There's one that's telling you to quit, and one that's telling you to keep going, and you've gotta keep going."

That mental strain is what creates a culture that can withstand a 17-plus-game season full of unpredictable elements, hostile environments, setbacks and schedule changes.

"Nothing brings you closer together than suffering together," Jarrett said.

Another way to quickly band together is to compete against Johnson's high-powered offense that, this year, collectively decided they needed to turn it up a notch.

Before the start of camp, Williams declared that each time the offense scored a touchdown, no matter what group was on the field, the entire unit would celebrate. Even in the dog days of camp, the offense stood by that plan. No matter how tiring the drive was or how deep into a practice they were, reaching the end zone always elicited screams from the sideline, players racing down the field to high-five the scorer or a set of dance moves.

"[Williams] is a conductor of this organization," Bradbury said. "That's the responsibility of that position. That kind of personality and that enthusiasm and joy of the game is contagious. It can kind of get monotonous in camp because sometimes you're trying to hit certain situations. So, you might score a touchdown, but you're still gonna run another play from the 20-yard line … but you need to celebrate those victories.

"This is a tough game. This is a tough training camp. And so, all those little victories and seeing that improvement come to fruition, you need to celebrate."

That idea coming from Williams also spoke volumes. While the former first overall pick has been named a team captain in each of his three NFL seasons, it's clear to his teammates and coaches that his understanding of his role, his confidence and willingness to lead are at their highest level right now.

That was evident before the Bears even returned to camp, when Williams invited all of his pass-catchers out to Los Angeles to train together, first and foremost, but also to hang out and grow closer off the field.

"He's the leader of the offensive side of the football," Kmet said. "So, we go where he goes, in a sense. We're all here, really, to support him, to make sure that we do what we need to do on our end of things so that he can go out and execute and make plays.

"So yeah, as a leader of the offense, we're going to follow his lead."

Taking training camp on the road to Cincinnati and Nashville was a deliberate move by Johnson and the Bears.

While players are constantly around one another at Halas Hall, spending four days in a different city at a hotel with only your teammates and coaches — typically without your family — fosters a deeper level of team chemistry.

Up until that point, teammates viewed each other more as competitors. Everyone knows that during camp, it's offense versus defense. Most days back in Lake Forest, post-practice push-ups were on the line for the group that "lost" the day, the final drill or a fun competition.

The joint practice against the Bengals Aug. 20 marked the first time, outside of the preseason game versus Cleveland, that the Bears' offense, defense and special teams units all shared a sideline.

"It's the first time you're really like, 'hey, we've been sharpening each other's iron this whole time, and now I get to watch you and root for you,'" Raymond said, "and see how we've been doing versus each other, and how that compares.

"We've been going against each other, the same faces, for 20 days. So when you step on the field, that's not just you by yourself. I've grinded with you. I'm excited to watch you go out and dominate this guy because we've been working so hard.

"It was the first time you kind of get that sense of camaraderie and connection between teammates."

Those ensuing Thursday and Friday nights before the Saturday preseason games brought personal bonding moments, whether that was gathering outside the Cincinnati hotel for food trucks that the team had coordinated, having position group dinners or playing video games in the game room at either hotel.

"You got to get closer to your position group and get to actually know guys and talk to the rookies and get a feel for who they are on a personal level," linebacker T.J. Edwards said. "In Tennessee, we did group dinners with our coaches, too — (linebackers) Richard Smith, (assistant linebackers) Kevin Koch, (defensive quality control) Kenny Norton. So that was cool to go out and just hang out, have some have some food with them and get to talk to them, because normally we're just talking football."

Forming chemistry is a never-ending task that cannot be completed in training camp, but fast-tracking that process was crucial for the defense. While veteran leaders like Edwards, Jarrett, Sweat and cornerback Jaylon Johnson return, the defense endured significant turnover compared to the offensive side of the ball. Fourteen of the 26 defenders were not on the Bears roster last year. Of those, five are projected to start Sunday in Charlotte, and six are rookies.

For the defensive leaders, it was important that the newcomers, especially the rookies, learn early on what it means to be part of this unit. So, when veteran players like Sweat or Edwards were activated after the first day of camp and had to do their up-downs solo, it added a new wrinkle.

"'Tez had to do his up-downs maybe two days later than everyone else, and he was looking at his rookies, and he's like, 'Oh, no, y'all doing a couple with me,'" Edwards laughed. "They did a couple with him. And then when I went, I just heard someone screaming in the back, like, 'Rooks, get in there and start doing a couple, too.'

"It's just a group that cares. You don't have guys that are above the group, which is really cool. And those 40 up-downs are probably the worst thing we're gonna do, so getting it to where it's a fun thing, and guys are talking about it and reminding the new guys, 'Hey, you've got your 40 today, good luck,' I'm sure that's how DA designed it as well."

Much like last year when the Bears lost their top cornerback to injury in camp after Jaylon Johnson got hurt, the defense quickly faced adversity. Bryant, who immediately meshed with the defense upon arrival in March, suffered a knee injury Aug. 3 and later had surgery, landing him on injured reserve to start the year and keeping him out until at least mid-December.

Despite his short time on the field with the Bears, Bryant was already considered a valuable leader to the group, having just come off the best season of his career, which ended with a Super Bowl victory. Edwards saw other players quickly pick up the slack left by Bryant, though. In the linebacker room, he pointed to Bush, the former first-round pick who did not miss a single practice during camp and was often one of the loudest players on the field.

Edwards also pointed to the two-time Pro Bowler and second-longest tenured Bear, Jaylon Johnson. In addition to training camp, the seven-year veteran missed Weeks 3-12 last season, and while he returned for the Bears' final stretch of regular-season games as well as the two playoff contests, he didn't return to full health until this offseason. For almost a year, his teammates and coaches didn't see the star cornerback at full strength, either on the field or in the locker room.

That has certainly changed.

Johnson most recently displayed his true form during the Bears' final public training camp practice Aug. 25. With a long drive drill looming and multiple team periods to endure before then, Johnson called a team huddle mid-practice. He didn't like the energy at practice until that point and urged the team to ramp up the competition.

"Jaylon has always been that," Edwards. "I think last year was tough with the injuries that he sustained. We just didn't see him as much as we really do. But one, he's always gonna be the best corner on the field. But I feel like this year, you just hear him often. You hear him talking about finishing or getting to the ball — just those little things.

"He's always been a confident guy; that's who he is. But I think you're just hearing his voice a lot more. I think he does a really good job of just saying something when it needs to be said."

While Jaylon Johnson isn't one to need external motivation to find ways to lead, he did gain insight from Nick Lavery, a U.S. Army Special Forces Warrant Officer, who was one of several guests who Ben Johnson brought to Halas Hall over the course of camp to speak to the team.

In a team meeting last year, Ben Johnson read an excerpt from Lavery's book, "Objective Secure," detailing the severe combat injury he suffered in battle that required above-the-knee leg amputation.

Lavery's message on mental toughness provided a much-needed perspective shift for the Bears.

"It's just giving you a different mindset, especially in the middle of camp. When your body hurts, you feel sorry for yourself," Raymond said. "Then, this Special Forces dude comes in like, 'Yeah, man, I put two tourniquets on my leg. I stopped my own bleeding.

"And it's like, 'You know what? I don't feel that bad.' Let me suck it up. I'm okay."

The Bears will endure the first true test of their identity Sunday against the Panthers — starting the season on the road for the first time since 2021 and playing in anticipated 100-degree real-feel temperatures. Yet, if what the Bears have built over the past six weeks is what they believe it is, none of that — nor any other uncontrollable element presented to them over the next 18-plus weeks — will matter.

"We want to be known as a physical team, a team that's on the details, not going to beat themselves, disciplined, ready for whoever, whenever — just spot the ball and play," Jarrett said.

"We know we've got a hectic schedule coming up this year as far as the days we play, where we play, who we play. It doesn't matter. That's why we went about training camp the way we did, just being ready for chaos, whichever way it comes.

"So, it's really about us at the end of the day and making other teams deal with us. I think that's the identity we wanted to create."

While the Bears' identity will certainly shift and grow throughout the 2026 season, one of the consistent elements will be Ben Johnson himself. His players have put full faith and confidence in his coaching and leadership style to the point that he has become the center of their culture.

"We just need to follow him, follow his lead," Burden said. "He's a great coach. He's here for a reason, and everybody in this building believes in him, so we're gonna follow the leader."

"He's super caring. He loves his team," Kmet said. "He loves football, loves his team, and he really loves each one of us. And at the end of the day, he's hard on us, but he really wants what's best for us at the end of the day, and each and every guy feels that."

The way in which Johnson has approached all three phases hammers home Kmet's sentiment. It's no secret that Johnson's most prominent responsibility is manning the offense, yet his connectivity to Allen's defense and Hightower's special teams unit speaks volumes.

"Every day I'm out there kicking, I feel him about five yards back and about three yards off to the side on my right shoulder, just watching every kick closely," Santos said. "He loves the weapon that we can be, and he's had times where he referenced that in the team meeting. It's awesome to see a coach that obviously wants to score a million touchdowns also understand that special teams can help him ultimately achieve what the team wants to do, which is win games."

Santos referenced one moment in a team meeting where Johnson pulled up tape of a kickoff during the first preseason game. Rookie tight end Sam Roush set a perfect block, got into his gap and delivered a big hit. By shining a light on those moments in front of the full team and talking about them with the same enthusiasm he would an offensive touchdown, Johnson has showcased the value of the special teamers and, in turn, their connections in the locker room.

"Every time we're out there, we want to dominate and be a weapon," Santos said. "We want to be a reason why we won the game. So I think Ben's mentality aligns with ours and that's why we want to succeed for him and for the team so badly."

Johnson knows he physically can't do everything he's asking of his players, but mentally, he's straining just as hard, if not harder, than anyone inside Halas Hall. Yet, that doesn't have to be said. The players see it. They've seen his car in the parking lot at sunrise and sunset. They've heard him assume blame for mistakes. They know his story, his imperfect and bumpy rise through the coaching ranks.

"He's at the highest point of his career," Raymond said, "but he hasn't always been there. It wasn't just some easy track for Ben to be where he is. He carries intensity, that tenacity, those memories, that level of adversity. He carries that with him in what he does. And because he's lived through it, he's breathed through it, he expects the same.

"He's not asking you to do something he wouldn't do himself or expect from himself. He doesn't want you to take this moment for granted and neither does he.

"So when he's speaking to you, you're almost looking at the mirror like, 'Hey, man, I know what a good team requires. I know what was required of myself to be able to flourish in these moments. And I'm going to expect the same thing out of you.'"

What Johnson does best is toe the line between pushing and pulling, knowing when to challenge his team beyond what they believe is possible and knowing when praise and appreciation are needed.

In that final practice of Week 0, Johnson did just that. As the team huddled together in the middle of the field last Thursday, Johnson delivered the appropriate message. He acknowledged that while on this journey, there will be discomfort, yet enduring discomfort during training camp will pay off come game day. He told his team he was proud of them and that when they arrived back to Halas Hall on Monday, it was "on."

"We know what he expects," Bradbury said. "We know what he wants this football team to look like. And we're going to gravitate towards that, and we're going to work towards that.

"We don't want to fall short of that."