What We Learned From Ex Detroit’s cohch Ben Johnson After the Bears’ Loss to the Ravens: ‘It’s on the Leaders Here’
The Chicago Bears delivered a poor showing in Baltimore, falling 30-16 in a matchup where the offense never clicked and the defense failed to contain Ravens backup quarterback Tyler Huntley.
After the game, Bears head coach Ben Johnson didn’t mince words.
He demanded accountability from his players.
Johnson was blunt.
He felt the team should have performed better, especially riding the momentum of a four-game win streak.
The Ravens executed their plan effectively, and Johnson expected a stronger counterpunch from his group.
“Give Baltimore a lot of credit; they came out and played a physical style of football,” Johnson stated. “Honestly, I expected a bit more out of our guys to match that.”
One of Johnson’s main frustrations was how the mistakes kept accumulating.
For example: the Bears committed 11 penalties on Sunday. This marked their third game this season with 10 or more flags. Even during last year’s 10-game losing skid, Chicago didn’t have three such penalty-filled games.
Johnson emphasized that penalties have been a continued focus in practices. Once again, he challenged his veteran leaders to take ownership of the problem.
Johnson can design plays and manage the defense all he wants, but he made it clear the players need to execute better and stop hurting themselves on the field.
“We as coaches have been hammering that point for a while now, but we still haven’t gotten the desired results,” Johnson said. “It’s on the leaders in this locker room to fix it.”
On Friday, the Bears declared Kyler Gordon out for Sunday’s contest. The following day, they placed him on injured reserve, sidelining him for at least four weeks.
Gordon has appeared in only two games this season after missing the first four with a hamstring injury. Now he’s battling a groin issue that Johnson hopes will heal quickly.
“We’re optimistic it’ll be a short-term thing so we can get him back soon,” Johnson said. “It’s another soft-tissue injury we’re having to deal with.”
A brief absence would be huge for the Bears, as they’re already managing injuries to Dominique Robinson, Shemar Turner, Tyrique Stevenson, and Gervon Dexter on defense.
