As the dust settles from one of the most intense practices in recent Chicago Bears memory, we've already documented just how unique Tuesday's happenings were. Across the board, beat reporters and those in attendance had never seen something quite like it.
Ben Johnson ran as tough and physical a practice as you could possibly have in a training camp session. One overwhelming takeaway after a practice as intense as Tuesday's was pretty obvious: this is what Matt Eberflus promised the Bears in his opening press conference, but he never followed through.
For those who might have forgotten, I'll provide a couple of highlights from that opening press conference out of Eberflus back in 2022.
Ben Johnson reminds Bears fans of the broken promises from Matt Eberflus
He began by talking about the work ethic he learned from his parents and how that has carried into his coaching career.
Eberflus also talked about playing for Nick Saban where he learned how to "change the culture, change the mindset" of an organization.
Interesting to look back on, no? A culture change? A mindset change? That would have been nice.
"We will play at a high tempo, a high effort, attacking and physical style, built on speed, quickness and explosive athletic ability. We will carry ourselves with an attitude of energy, passion and intensity. We will play with maximum effort on every play," Eberflus affirmed.
He would go on to sound very sure of himself in the way he was going to get his football team to play:
"People always ask, 'how do you get a football team to play fast? To play hard, to play physical?' ... We want to build the foundation of what we're going to look like."
After looking back on this, it's hilarious to me that half of this team seemingly quit on Eberflus in the middle of the 2024 campaign. The players certainly didn't trust Eberflus or part of his staff; namely Shane Waldron who wound up being fired, of course.
Now, we're seeing Johnson run the most intense practice ever seen by the likes of Courtney Cronin, Kevin Fishbain, Adam Jahns and other notable Bears beat reporters.
Johnson not only came into Halas Hall with a plan in place, but he's executing on that plan. Training camp was never this intense under Eberflus; not even close. But, the culture Johnson is installing here is something to take pride in.
Fans should be genuinely happy to see what's unfolding. It all starts with the right principles. The on-field product will follow. Just wait and see.