Ben Johnson delivers on promise as Luther Burden has coming out party vs. Cowboys

As head coach Ben Johnson tries to figure out how to make the Chicago Bears' offense into something like the well-oiled machine he guided in Detroit, he revealed some tentative plans for the team's first two draft picks this year looking toward Week 3 against the Dallas Cowboys.

Getting Loveland more involved on Sunday started on a high note, with a 31-yard reception on the Bears' fifth offensive play. But a hip injury later in the first half knocked him out of the game and halted any chance at a breakthrough performance for the rookie tight end.

Johnson seemed to call out a specific Bears' player in his general comments about "competition" and practice work being reflective of how much someone wanted to be involved in the game plan. The idea of getting Burden more involved feels likely to ultimately come at that player's expense.

A soft tissue injury that kept him out of OTAs put Burden behind the eight-ball to earn a role in the Bears' offense during training camp, and it foreshadowed a slow start to this rookie season. To that end he played just 30 offensive snaps over the first two games, but he did get some notable run as a kickoff returner.

Luther Burden delivered big with more opportunities in Week 3

According to Pro Football Focus, Burden played 17 of the Bears' 59 offensive snaps against the Cowboys. That 28.8 percent snap share is not significantly more than his Week 1 snap share (26.9 percent), but he was more involved in the offense with three targets and one carry.

Burden had a team-high101 yards on his three catches against Dallas, highlighted by a 65-yard touchdown off a flea-flicker as Johnson dug into his bag of trick plays fairly early in the game.

Burden added a 29-yard catch later in the first half, on a play where he nicely transitioned from catching the ball to doing a little something after the catch in the midst of some Cowboys' defenders.

The Bears' offense being more explosive and efficient than it had been on Sunday was easily expected against a struggling and injury-thinned Cowboys' defense, but Caleb Williams and company still had to get it done.

Read more: 4 winners (and 2 losers) in Bears' 31-14 statement win over Cowboys

Johnson delivered on a promise to find ways to get him involved in the offense, and Burden delivered by being impactful with the opportunities he got. Calls for the rookie wideout to be even more involved going forward are surely coming, and they will be well-founded.