{"id":424554,"date":"2026-01-21T22:49:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T22:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/424554\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T22:49:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T22:49:08","slug":"ben-johnson-chicago-bears-look-ahead-after-breakthrough-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/424554\/","title":{"rendered":"Ben Johnson, Chicago Bears look ahead after breakthrough season"},"content":{"rendered":"

LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) \u2014 The Chicago Bears<\/a> thrilled the city in coach Ben Johnson\u2019s first season. <\/p>\n

They pulled out one comeback win after another on their way to capturing the NFC North championship after finishing last in the division. They advanced in the playoffs for the first time in 15 years by rallying to beat Green Bay in a wild-card game before losing an overtime thriller to Matthew Stafford<\/a> and the Los Angeles Rams<\/a> in the divisional round.<\/p>\n

Now, it\u2019s time to start building on everything they accomplished. Then again, maybe building isn\u2019t the right word.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no building off of this,\u201d Johnson said on Wednesday. \u201cWe go back to square one. We\u2019re back at the bottom again. That\u2019s really all 32 teams. If you feel otherwise, you\u2019re probably missing the big picture.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bears are obviously starting from a stronger position, with Caleb Williams<\/a> on his way to becoming a franchise quarterback after setting the team\u2019s single-season passing record in his second year and Johnson looking like the coach to lead him to that next level. It\u2019s a big change from last January, when the team was reeling after finishing 5-12 and firing former coach Matt Eberflus along the way.<\/p>\n

Now, for the first time since he was hired in 2022, general manager Ryan Poles heads into the offseason with a contender rather than a rebuilding project.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just have more constraints,\u201d he said. \u201cAt the same time, I don\u2019t think the process changes. You\u2019re gonna identify the guys that fit what we want in our football team, which coach hit, and you just keep trying to acquire those players. We know what they look like, we know how they act, we know how they talk, and we\u2019ll continue to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Poles had a big offseason a year ago.<\/p>\n

He transformed a struggling offensive line by trading for guards Joe Thuney<\/a> and Jonah Jackson<\/a> and signing center Drew Dalman<\/a>. He also drafted Ozzy Trapilo<\/a> in the second round. The Boston College product emerged as the starting left tackle, only to tear the patellar tendon in his left knee in the wild-card game against Green Bay. <\/p>\n

Poles didn\u2019t have a specific timeline for his return, though he figures to be out long term after having surgery.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure it\u2019ll be deep into next (season), with the injury,\u201d Poles said. \u201cSo, we\u2019ve had a conversation with him. He knows this is part of his journey that he has to overcome. I have a lot of faith in him and our staff to get him back ready to go whenever that is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trapilo was one of four major contributors drafted by Poles this past year.<\/p>\n

The Bears also hit big with tight end Colston Loveland<\/a> in the first round, receiver Luther Burden in the second and running back Kyle Monangai<\/a> in the seventh. Loveland, the No. 10 pick out of Michigan, led Chicago in receptions (58) and yards (713) and tied for the team lead in touchdown catches (six). The speedy and elusive Burden had 652 yards receiving. And the hard-running Monangai rushed for 783 yards as part of a productive tandem with D\u2019Andre Swift.<\/p>\n

The Bears have some decisions to make at safety with All-Pro Kevin Byard and Jaquan Brisker<\/a> set to become free agents. The 32-year-old Byard, who led the league with seven interceptions, said this week he\u2019d like to return. And Poles would like to have him back.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no problem saying that\u2019s a player that we would like to have back,\u201d Poles said. \u201cBut, again, when you add the other safeties into that mix and all the other decisions we have across the roster, with cap restraints and things like that, it\u2019ll be a challenge. But that\u2019s part of what we do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Poles also acknowledged a need to improve the line on a defense that ranked 29th overall and 27th against the run. Chicago tied for 22nd in sacks with 35. But the Bears appear to have the two most important pieces in place \u2014 the coach and the quarterback.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really encouraged about the steps he took this year,\u201d Johnson said. \u201dI\u2019m Caleb Williams<\/a>\u2019 No. 1 believer. I have a lot of faith in him and what he\u2019s capable of doing and the player that he\u2019s still striving to become.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP NFL: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/nfl<\/p>\n

Andrew Seligman, The Associated Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) \u2014 The Chicago Bears thrilled the city in coach Ben Johnson\u2019s first season. They…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":424555,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[49,48,514,82],"class_list":["post-424554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=424554"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424554\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/424555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=424554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=424554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=424554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}