What can Bears fans expect from Ben Johnson in his second season in Chicago?

episode

Rahimi & Grote Show 13 min 4 speakers 5 chapters transcribed 2 months ago

▲ 0

Transcript

jump: chapters · speakers · find in transcript

Transcript

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

Rahimi Harrison-Grody 0:01

Rahimi Harrison-Grody. I love being here. Middays 10 to 2 on 104.3 The Score.

Vinny Rotino 0:24

Does it go from good to better in year two of Ben Johnson's training camp?

0:29

Ooh.

Mark Grote 0:31

I think yes. It's got to be better because my guess is, Layla, this year Ben Johnson will not necessarily be running on the field and stopping the plays because they're not ready and they're not getting out of the huddle quickly enough and getting up to the line of scrimmage fast enough. I don't think he'll be yelling at Cole Komet and Caleb Williams. And yeah, that's right. That was the point at which, by the way, last year I knew Ben Johnson was different. Because I believe it was inside the Walter Payton Center during the off-season program. And I don't want to oversell this like it was something super demonstrative. But there was a point where Ben Johnson was getting in the face of Cole Komette.

Mark Grote 1:18

who just felt almost immune to that kind of stuff because he is such a smart player and was such a, for the previous regime and this regime now, a guy who does everything right, which he does. But at that moment, he wasn't doing something right, and the coach was getting on Cole Komet. And I was like, oh, okay. stand by everybody and then it just sort of took off from there that was before training camp and before ben johnson was running out on the field and yelling at guys and blowing the whistle so yes i think that based on that things are going to be very different and easier for a lot of players in camp this year not not for the youngins necessarily i shouldn't say easier that's a bad word to use as it pertains to ben johnson but there'll be a better flow smoother process smoother process thank you

Vinny Rotino 2:06

Well, and we know process is everything in the NFL.

Mark Grote 2:09

Yes.

Vinny Rotino 2:09

And it's funny you mentioned that it was Cole Komet because at that point, so go back a year, and then what did we hear months before that? Was him talking about how the Bears weren't practicing well enough. This is what he had asked for.

Mark Grote 2:23

That's a great point.

Vinny Rotino 2:23

And he was one of the vocalists.

How did Ben Johnson’s intensity shape last year’s Bears training camp?

Vinny Rotino 2:25

Leaders about that. He came out in the media and said, we weren't practicing well enough. And then remember, we asked Jalen Johnson. The afternoon show asked Jalen Johnson. That's when he said, Koli never lied. And then he went into how unorganized it and how just... It seemed like it wasn't professional, what was going on, the way they were practicing it.

Mark Grote 2:46

Amen. That is such a great call right there. I remember the frustration of Cole Komet and him being very direct with the assembled media at Hallis Hall when we were in there, that we couldn't really narrow it down. I think we were trying to figure out the who and the what that was going on in those practices. Like, who is not being serious in the practice? But you're right. Cole Komet was making a point of that. And so I guess when he got it a little bit, he probably had to appreciate it. You know, if Cole was in the wrong place for a play, he was in the wrong place for a play. He had to have appreciated that, that you were not going to get away with crap with Ben Johnson.

Vinny Rotino 3:26

No, and then it was Courtney Cronin that was the impetus, the inspiration for the segment because she brought up how last year at this time, if you remember, and it was really a couple weeks after this, last year at this time, this was a rough training camp for Caleb Williams too. Go back and listen to how he described the year one of training camp.

Caleb Williams 3:51

That's a hell of a lot more fun for me than it was last year, just because it was, you know, I was sent to coach, coach Stu's. It's like, dude, I was, I was, felt like I was drowning for, you know, trying to breathe or, or, you know, stay alive and wait for a boat to come around last year. You know, now this year it's, like I said earlier, it's, it's being able to start where we finished last year, play calls and words and verbiage and, and speak the same language. And now it's been able to grow more from an earlier stage than, you know, you know, maybe doing it, you know, maybe a little bit earlier in the season or halfway through the season.