Ben Johnson says Caleb Williams has traded goofy for serious
Ben Johnson says his quarterback's silliness is gone and his execution is up, Chicago closes the exhibition slate 2-1, and the roster keeps churning nine days out from Carolina.
Ben Johnson says Caleb Williams has traded goofy for serious
Ben Johnson didn't soften it when he was asked how his quarterback has changed heading into year 2 of his offense. "This guy might have had a little bit of goofy to him a year ago, and I use that term with love, and now you just see a more serious player and intent every time I'm around him," Johnson said, per Heavy.com. He backed it up with specifics two days later, telling Larry Mayer of the Bears' official site that Williams is "executing at a much higher clip than he ever has, and I think it's going to continue to grow," adding that Williams "is going to continue to elevate everyone around him."
Williams hears the same thing about himself and is matching the tone. "I know we have a real common goal and it's to find a way to make the Chicago Bears champions," he said, per NBC Sports' Pro Football Talk, adding that "everything he says to me, I'll do it at 200 percent and won't look back." It reads like a quarterback who spent a full offseason inside Johnson's system instead of learning it cold, which is the actual story nine days from kickoff.
The front office is spending its own capital on that same bet: Chicago freed up nearly $17 million by restructuring the deals of Joe Thuney, Dayo Odeyingbo and T.J. Edwards this week, giving Ryan Poles extra room to work with before the opener (Bears Free Up $17M By Restructuring Thuney, Odeyingbo, Edwards). Everything about this week points the same direction — a team betting its year 2 continuity is worth paying for.
Zavion Thomas turns a Nashville tuneup into the exhibition's best highlight
Chicago closed the preseason 2-1 with a 24-15 win over the Titans in Nashville on August 29, and it started about as well as a game can start: Zavion Thomas turned his first career target into a 97-yard touchdown on the offense's opening snap. He wasn't done there — 5 catches for 140 yards and the score, plus a 39-yard punt return and a 22-yard kickoff return, arguably the best player on the field for either side. Asked about his breakaway speed afterward, Johnson just smiled: "Four-two-eight. Great coaching" — a nod to the receiver's pro-day 40 time.
Titans24-15
Bengals9-27
Browns34-10The team's own account gave him a moment for it, posting a new look for the rookie in the days after, and it's the rare club post that actually earns the attention — the production behind it is real. Tyson Bagent called the opening score the platform for his own night, going 16 of 17 passing for 208 yards with 2 touchdowns and no interceptions, plus 21 yards on the ground, though he did lose a fumble. Sam Roush caught 1 of 2 targets for 19 yards and Jahdae Walker turned his only look into 12.
None of it involved a real starter — Caleb Williams watched from the sideline, with Johnson saying plainly, "If I didn't feel good about him for Week 1, he probably would have played tonight." The run's only blemish was a 27-9 loss at Cincinnati on August 22, sandwiched between a 34-10 win over Cleveland on August 15 and the Titans finale.
Roschon Johnson is still the only healthy back on the roster
The scare from Thursday's practice has cooled. D'Andre Swift's exit in visible discomfort was called "a cramp" by the Bears, after Adam Schefter of ESPN reported he'd looked to be in significant discomfort at the time (D'Andre Swift's Practice Exit Was 'Just A Cramp,' Bears Say). Rome Odunze left the same practice with an apparent right leg injury, but coach Ben Johnson said the receiver "should be all good," per Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune.
Bears RB D'Andre Swift, who left Thursday’s practice and was said to be in significant discomfort, was said to be experiencing “a cramp”, per sources.
There's real good news underneath the scare, too: Swift said fellow back Kyle Monangai, working back from a knee issue, "looked good" running on Wednesday, per Adam Hoge of AllCHGO.com. Until he's cleared, though, Roschon Johnson remains the only healthy running back on Chicago's active roster, Sean Hammond of the Chicago Tribune reports — a strange place to be nine days from Carolina.
The roster is still being trimmed around it. Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune reported the Bears released receiver Ray-Ray McCloud with an injury settlement Friday, one more subtraction before the depth chart locks for Week 1.
Bryce Young and a defending division champ are waiting in Carolina
It's a Sunday afternoon in Carolina to open the year, and the Panthers are not the pushover the name might suggest — they're the defending NFC South champions, and PFF's 2026 preview leans on Tetairoa McMillan's rookie of the year season (1,014 yards, 7 touchdowns) as the reason their ceiling is real. Carolina finished its own preseason 3-1, most recently beating the Texans 16-13. Panthers coach Dave Canales even offered a health update of his own this week, telling reporters he's "very optimistic" that running back Jonathon Brooks will be available for Week 1 despite some soreness, Joseph Person of The Athletic reports.
The number board has Chicago traveling as the favorite: the line opened at Bears -2.5, with the total set at 47.5 — a middling number for a game that features two teams that spent the preseason getting healthy more than getting sharp. Kickoff at Bank of America Stadium is set for Sunday, September 13 at 1:00 p.m.
Whatever the Panthers put on the field, this is still the Bears' first game that counts under Ben Johnson, with a quarterback everyone around the building keeps describing the same way — serious, locked in, and done being goofy about it.