Ben Johnson demands more from Bears' offense and one of his star players

Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson put his offense on notice. 

During the NFL owners meetings in Phoenix, the Bears’ head coach delivered an honest critique of the team's play last season.

"And so I already alluded to it before, I'm actually not very happy with us as an offensive staff, our ability to get the primary receiver open," Johnson said. "I don't think it happened at a high enough clip, and so we have to do a better job in our game-planning process. And I put a lot of that on myself of making sure that we are doing that. …”

Ben Johnson is looking for more from his offense and one star in particular

Johnson didn’t just call out his coaching staff, but also the players. When discussing the team’s performance during scramble plays, Johnson was displeased with his unit. 

“And, naturally, I think we got to get better when we extend plays, capitalizing on those as well,” Johnson said. “Our scramble tape was not very good, and I think that's something that Caleb can really sink into. Just with his accuracy, with our ability to catch the ball, with our ability to separate down the field, I think we can make a huge jump there as well."

Catching the ball will be a big emphasis for the team this season, especially for wide receiver Rome Odunze. The former No. 9 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft dropped five passes last season, leading to a 9.4% drop rate. 

Odunze’s 2025 season was impacted by a foot injury that forced him to miss five straight games before returning to the playoffs, but even in his return, the impact wasn’t there from the Bears’ wide receiver. Johnson was asked about Odunze’s missed catch opportunities. 

"That’s something we’ll talk about,” Johnson said. “I don’t think that was a thing for him coming out. I don’t want to speak that into existence. That’s something we’re going to emphasize in the spring: getting back to basics."

When Odunze was at Washington, he dropped 15 passes, but only three in his final season in college. 

Odunze wasn’t the only Bears’ pass catcher impacted by drops, as the team finished with 29, the fifth most in the regular season. 

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For the Chicago Bears’ offense to take that next step in 2026, the pass catchers will have to focus on the basics and capitalize whenever quarterback Caleb Williams gives his teammates a chance throughout a game.