Leadership issues continue to plague Bears

Bears coach Ben Johnson learns a little bit more about the roster he inherited every day. He’s about to learn a lot more.

After the Bears had penalty issues yet again in a 30-16 loss to the Ravens on Sunday — 11 penalties for 79 yards, including two more false starts — Johnson all but threw his hands up and put the onus on his players and presumably team leaders to solve the problem.

“We’re here as coaches — we’re gonna help support, we’re going to challenge these guys and we’re going to be along there with them every step of the way,” Johnson said on his weekly appearance on ESPN 1000. “But I think it would go a long way if we just had maybe a little more ownership in that locker room to take the bull by the horns here, so we do get this cleaned up.”

That’s quite a challenge for a roster that has had leadership issues dating to last year, when the Bears imploded after the Hail Mary loss to the Commanders and lost 10 consecutive games.

Those leadership issues weren’t just fan/media conjecture — they were directly acknowledged after the season by general manager Ryan Poles, who said upgrading leadership would be a consideration in offseason acquisitions.

“I’ve also challenged in some of our exit meetings, [for] some of our guys to take the next step and lead as well,” Poles said. “I was in the same category and some of our guys were too, in terms of, ‘I saw this … should I say something? Should I step up?’ And I encouraged all those guys, we’ve got to get to this place.”

Nine months later, Johnson is preaching the same message.

“If you see something say something. It’s as simple as that,” Johnson said in his Monday press conference via Zoom. “We’ve got to continue to work on our practice habits and get better in that regard. I think they understand what I’m looking for. I think we’re going to be in good shape.”

We’ll see about that. Johnson already admonished his team in Week 3 for a substandard work ethic. (“Our practice habits are yet to reflect a championship-caliber team,” he said.) Six weeks later, the practice habits still need work and the penalties continue unabated. At some point that reflects upon the head coach, who, while maintaining confidence in his players, is clearly annoyed at the problem.

“I would like us to stay onsides,” Johnson said when asked what response he expects from his players. “It’s discipline. They’re as fed up with it as everyone else in the building. They understand it’s not what good football teams do, and I think they’re going to take ownership of it.”

This will be a test of not only of Johnson’s leadership, but Poles’ roster make-up. Does Johnson have a roster he can win with or not? And what happens if it turns out he doesn’t? This season gets more and more intriguing by the week.

Flags are flying

2. For the record … the Bears have been called for 72 penalties (with eight declined or offset) for 533 yards in seven games. They are fourth in the NFL in penalties per game (10.2) and second in penalty yards per game (76.1).

But perhaps more importantly, they are losing the penalty battle in each game. The Bears, in fact, are last in the NFL in penalty-yardage differential (their penalty yards minus their opponents) at minus-279. (The Broncos are second to last at minus-142.) The Bears are the only team with a negative penalty-yard differential in every game this season.

Too soon

3. Continuing the litany of penalty disaster … the Bears lead the NFL with 16 false starts in seven games. Even Joe Thuney was called for a false start against the Ravens — though it was almost an imperceptible transgression. CBS analyst J.J. Watt couldn’t even see it on replay.

It was Thuney’s first false start since Week 2 in 2023 — a span of 143 games and 2,818 offensive snaps. In his 10-year NFL career, Thuney has just nine false starts in 174 games and 11,804 offensive snaps — and three of them came in his first even games as a rookie with the Patriots in 2016. That’s one false start for every 1,312 offensive snaps in his career.

Fair call

4. Speaking of J.J. Watt, the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year from suburban Milwaukee (Pewaukee, Wisconsin) in his first season as a game analyst, did a stellar job on the Bears-Ravens broadcast.

He sees the same game we do. Watt initially dismissed DeAndre Hopkins’ contact with Bears cornerback Nahshon Wright on a critical third-and-seven completion in the fourth quarter as hand-fighting — “maybe a little push there, a little hand to the facemask.” Two plays later, he revisited the play and pointed out — from a Bears fan’s perspective — a facemask infraction that could have been called. Good work.

Deja vu all over again

5. The football gods seemed to be taunting Bears fans in real time on Sunday. As Justin Fields was doing what he does best — playing well against a bad defense — in leading the Jets to a comeback victory over the Bengals, and Mitch Trubisky was mopping up for the Bills against the Panthers, Caleb Williams was having the same issues that hounded Fields and Trubisky with the Bears: missing an open Kyle Monangai when he threw an ill-advised pass to Rome Odunze that was intercepted; and missing a wide-open D.J. Moore in the end zone to end any hopes for a miraculous comeback.

Williams still is a better quarterback than Trubisky or Fields — and in better hands with Johnson. But after witnessing the Jay Cutler, Trubisky and Fields experiences, it’s probably time to judge Williams’ development by the fundamental progress he makes rather than the spectacular plays he makes. Until he avoids the errors that have hampered his play recently, those big plays, as was evident against the Ravens, will only carry you so far.

There’s still work to do

6. Red Flag Dept.: It’s way too early to panic about Williams’ development. But that Williams thought he made the “right read” on the interception by Nate Wiggins while Johnson said he should have checked it down to Monangai is an indication of just how much work Johnson has to do to get Williams to max out — whatever level that takes him to.

Living single

7. The list: Quarterbacks with single-digit NFL victories to beat the Bears since 2010: Tyler Huntley, Ravens (6-9) in 2021 and 2025; Mike White, Jets (2-5) in 2022; Brett Hundley, Packers (3-6) in 2017; E.J. Manuel, Bills (6-12) in 2014; Kellen Clemens, Rams (8-13) in 2013; Tyler Palko, Chiefs (1-3) 2011; Tim Tebow, Broncos (8-6) in 2011.

This and that

8. Quick Hits: Jake Moody’s longest field goal in his three-year NFL career is 57 yards — as a rookie in 2023 with the 49ers. He’s 2 for 5 from 55-plus. … The Bears still lead the NFL with 16 takeaways, but are 30th in yards per play allowed (6.2). … Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, who completed 66.6% of his passes as a rookie, is up to 75.2% in 2025 under offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. Maye has seven consecutive 100-plus passer ratings and leads the NFL overall at 118.7. … The Bears dropped from 10th to 15th in scoring after being held below 21 points for the first time this season.

New York 1

9. Josh McCown Ex-Bears Player of the Week: Jets quarterback Justin Fields completed 21-of-34 passes for 244 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions for a 99.0 passer rating — rallying New York from a 31-16 fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Bengals 39-38 for their first victory of the season.

Pick ‘em

10. Bear-ometer — 8-9: at Bengals (W); vs. Giants (W); at Vikings (L); vs. Steelers (W); at Eagles (L); at Packers (L); vs. Browns (W); vs. Packers (L); at 49ers (L); vs. Lions (L).