Things aren't going well, but allow me to try and calm the storm. When things went bad for the Chicago Bears, under former head coach Matt Eberflus, this fan base had to suffer through one sorry press conference after another.
How many times would the Bears get embarrassed (amid losing streaks, at that) and Eberflus would come out in his postgame press conference with a line like, "We had a great week of practice?"
After the Bears were beaten down in Detroit this past week, and he had given his postgame sentiments, Johnson had a couple of days to chew on what had transpired. In meeting with the media once again, he admitted one gigantic truth that Eberflus never echoed.
"Our practice habits are yet to reflect a championship caliber team," he said, via ESPN's Courtney Cronin.
Ben Johnson's Bears might not be perfect, but they are far from Matt Eberflus' Bears
Look, this start is nowhere near where fans had imagined. At the same time, it's hard to get too angry after this is the reality the fan base has grown sadly accustomed to.
But, to hear Johnson speak the way he does with the Chicago media is still a breath of fresh air. It is still lightyears ahead of the kind of jargon we heard constantly coming out of Matt Eberflus, week after week.
Fans didn't want to hear about a great week of practice. They wanted assurance that measures were being taken to address the concerns, and Eberflus rarely took ownership of what transpired out on that field every single week.
Johnson's words are blatant. They are true. Will anything positive come from them? We will have to wait and see. He did go on to say he believes the Bears will be playing their best football by December, which is a quote that I think many fans will sarcastically take and run with.
The fact of the matter is, Johnson realizes this is going to take time. Don't forget, in Johnson's first season as the Lions' offensive coordinator, under Dan Campbell, that team went 9-8. That was with a veteran quarterback in Jared Goff, too, and before the Lions reached peak offensive line talent.
Johnson isn't giving any sorry excuses for what's happened over the first two games, and fans should at least be taking solace in that fact. This is no longer the same Bears coaching staff of old.
Now, if you want to talk about the front office, there are certainly gripes worth fussing about. But, that's a totally different story altogether.