What we saw from the Chicago Bears at their open OTA practice Wednesday

The Chicago Bears are officially in Phase 3 of their offseason program.

The team completed Phase 2, achieving their top objective: getting their bodies ready.

"They're working hard in the weight room," Johnson said Wednesday. "Conditioning-wise, we're bigger, we're faster, we're stronger as a team and that was really the number one objective that we're looking to get done."

Now, it's time to get to work learning their new schemes.

Here's what we saw from the Bears on Wednesday as they conducted their OTAs at Halas Hall.

Install: Day 2

Johnson wanted to make sure he noted it was the second day of install, meaning the Bears were on their second day working with the playbook Johnson was installing.

With that early level of install came some struggles.

"You could tell we had a little bit more mental and more presnap penalties and the little details kind of fell to the wayside," Johnson said. "We'll clean that up as we go."

There were more things to work on, like breakdowns during the 11-on-11 drills where quarterback Caleb Williams couldn't find a receiver after going through progressions, or how the defensive line got quickly into the backfield. 

There were other moments where the little things shined.

Williams lined up in the 12-personnel that Johnson likes, but made sure Rome Odunze came off the line of scrimmage with the two tight ends being on. Had Williams taken the snap, that would have been an illegal formation flag.

There were solid plays, like a Williams throw to Devin Duvernay off play action. Williams and Odunze almost connected on a deep shot with a ball that just went off Odunze's fingertips.

But, that's just Day 2. 

"The guys are working their tails off," Johnson said.

Ben Johnson's intensity

During 7-on-7 drills, Johnson had to stop the rep in front of him and pulled aside tight end Cole Kmet.

Johnson went right into Kmet's face, and grilled him. Johnson's message was simple.

"We're just communicating that it's not good enough," Johnson said.

Johnson patrolled practice on Wednesday, looking for the little things. Johnson was told he looked agitated during his press conference after practice, which he didn't deny.

"I thought that was normal," Johnson said, getting some laughs. "I'll work to get my body language under control."

If anything, Johnson was clear he was showing that he cared about the little things.

Multiple times during press conferences on Wednesday, Johnson and the players who spoke after practice were clear they didn't want to make comparisons to previous coaching staffs – namely, Johnson's predecessor in Matt Eberflus – but the little things were what the Bears said in retrospect they needed to focus on.

Johnson is working on that right away. 

"The intensity level of Ben Johnson is very apparent," Bears safety Kevin Byard said. 

Even though it was the second day of practice, the Bears' defense saw it too. The Bears defenders noted Johnson allows defensive coordinator Dennis Allen to do his thing when running defensive meetings, but he's paying attention in the back.

Bears linebacker Tremaine Edmunds noted the competitive spirit Johnson has is what's resonating with the team.

"Getting to know him as a man, that's what you look for," Edmunds said. "You want a coach who cares about winning."

Notable lineups

The Bears' first-team offensive line, with Braxton Jones still recovering from ankle surgery, was:

LT Kiran Amegadije
LG Joe Thuney
C Drew Dalman
RG Jonah Jackson
RT Darnell Wright

Amegadije looks to be the first choice as the back-up left tackle with Jones out. This could change as second-round pick Ozzy Trapilo was working with the second-string offense at left tackle.

With the Bears' back-up quarterback spot behind Caleb Williams, veteran Case Keenum got second-team reps after Williams, followed by Tyson Bagent and Austin Reed.

Wednesday absences

Bears first-round pick Colston Loveland was still rehabbing his surgically repaired AC joint. Second-round pick Luther Burden was also absent from OTAs on Wednesday.

Johnson said he was working on a soft tissue injury that kept him out on Wednesday.

Also, not present at OTAs on Wednesday were: 

CB Kyler Gordon
CB Zah Frazier
S Elijah Hicks
CB Terell Smith
RB Ian Wheeler
LB Amen Ogbongbemiga
OT Braxton Jones
OL Ryan Bates
TE Colston Loveland
DT Zacch Pickens
DT Andrew Billings

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