Fresh off a division title, Chicago's head coach pivots from past glory to the grueling roster battles and undrafted hopefuls fighting for their professional lives today.
There's been a lot of talk about what the Chicago Bears did last year.
What they achieved in one year under head coach Ben Johnson was remarkable. They reached the playoffs and won the NFC North.
It makes sense that people are still wanting to talk about the 2025 season.
It wasn't a perfect year.
The Bears had key injuries to Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon. Rome Odunze also missed significant time, which impacted the receiver room.
Ozzy Trapilo and T.J. Edwards went down with season-ending injuries in the Wild Card game against the Green Bay Packers.
With all of those injuries, the Bears were still able still achieve what they did.
Still, head coach Ben Johnson just wants to focus on what's happening this season. He spoke to the media before Thursday's joint practice with the Tennessee Titans.
Johnson was asked why he gets frustrated when he gets asked about last season. The head coach wants the focus to be on the players currently trying to make the team.
Those are the stories he wants to be written, not about how last year effects the 2026 team.
"Yeah, listen, all I care about is, 'Does it help us win or not?'" Johnson said. "That's really what I'm all about. Like, we can talk about injuries up here. The guys that aren't out there, they're not helping us win right now. I want stories to be written those guys. We got 90 guys on the roster right now. A lot of which are fighting for their professional lives right now. And their stories are incredible. They should be out there and hearing about that. But talking about last year isn't going to do us any good in terms of winning this practice, winning the next preseason game, winning Week 1. And that's really all we care about right now."
The Bears have brought in numerous undrafted free agents and free agents who are trying to make the 90-man roster.
On offense, there's Mason Murphy, Omari Kelly, Caden Barnett, Miller Moss and Hayden Large. The defensive UDFAs include Jayden Loving, Wayne Matthews III, Skyler Thomas, Marlen Sewell, William Wright and Beau Gardner.
You also have the free agents who have been brought in with the hopes of making the roster. Deantre Prince, Anthony Johnson Jr., Tony Fields II, Antonio Grier, Wesley French, and Kaden Davis are all names to root for.
For many Bears fans, last year was a dream come true.
For Johnson, he is focusing on the here and now as the franchise will have to finalize its 53-man roster in the next few days.
