When Matt Eberflus was hired three years ago, he told Bears players to get their track shoes on.
New head coach Ben Johnson has a different idea.
“We want some tough, some gritty, some dirty individuals,” Johnson said Wednesday at Halas Hall.
Minutes after the official start of the league season Wednesday, the Bears introduced two guards they believe fit Johnson’s description: Joe Thuney, whom they acquired in a trade with the Chiefs, and Jonah Jackson, whom they got from the Rams. The Bears agreed to sign Falcons center Drew Dalman earlier this week, too, but he and defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo still have to pass their physicals and sign their contracts. Their signings could be official as soon as Thursday.
The new, expensive middle of the Bears offensive line — Thuney at left guard, Dalman at center and Jackson at right guard — will have more to say about Johnson’s proposed identity than anyone else on the Bears’ offense save the man they’re paid to protect: quarterback Caleb Williams.
“You’ve seen the offenses [Johnson] has had … the 40-plus point capabilities it brings to the table,” said Jackson, who spent four seasons with Johnson’s Lions before getting hurt and being asked to play out of position at center in his lone year with the Rams. “He’s a winner — that’s what he wants to do. …
“We’re building this team from the front, and that’s really what it all comes down to. All the guys — quarterbacks, receivers, running backs — they get the stats, they look pretty, and that’s all them, but the O-line and D-line is really the motor to this car.”
Unlike with the Nate Davis debacle, the Bears have first-hand experience with their big-money guards: Johnson coached Jackson and general manager Ryan Poles was in the Chiefs’ front office when they signed Thuney away from the Patriots. Those factors empowered them to swing trades: Thuney for a 2026 fourth-round draft pick and Jackson for a sixth-rounder next month.
“When that popped open,” Poles said. “we were able to jump on it.”
Neither guard relies merely on toughness. Thuney is a four-time Super Bowl champ with the Patriots and Chiefs who was voted MVP by his Kansas City teammates last year after moving to left tackle because of injury.
“Being in those places it felt like everyone was pulling in the same direction — everyone,” Thuney said. “All that mattered was winning.”
Jackson made the Pro Bowl in 2021 and watched a Lions team go from laughingstock to minutes away from a Super Bowl berth two years ago.
“My best years were with Ben,” Jackson said.
Johnson’s Lions had the fourth-best offensive line in the NFL last year, per Pro Football Focus, and the second-best in 2023. Not surprisingly, they finished second in points last year and fifth the year before.
“We’ll push this thing as far as we feel the collective group can handle up front,” Johnson said. “And that’s where the intelligence is so, so important — to expand on that variety. …
“In the passing game, we have to be better from a pass protection standpoint. We really prioritized guys that are going to win one-on-one battles with the [defensive tackle], and we feel like both these guys are capable of that.”
The Bears learned last year the pitfalls of winning the offseason — and Eberflus discovered that track shoes aren’t nearly enough.
Time will tell if Johnson’s dirty, gritty identity has better success. But consider the Bears intrigued.
“it’s just an offense you want to be a part of,” Thuney said. “[Johnson] has such a clear, communicative way of describing what he wants and you can just tell the passion and the love of the game. It’s infectious. I think everyone around him feels it. It’s a coach you want to play for.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
