As the 2025 NFL regular season inches closer, the anticipation for Ben Johnson’s first season as the Chicago Bears head coach continues to grow.
Johnson enters not just his first season as the Bears leader, but also his first tenure as a NFL head coach with a franchise that is starving for winning football. His departure from the Detroit Lions to Chicago has intensified the rivalry in the NFC North between the two franchises and one former player in the division has felt the impact of Johnson’s offense.
From 2015 to 2022, Eric Kendricks was a linebacker for the Minnesota Vikings, so he’s well-versed in the NFC North rivalries, and Johnson. This week, Kendricks appeared on NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football” and discussed his first-hand experiences against Johnson’s offense, and why he hated going up against him.
“(With me and) Ben Johnson, it’s a love-hate relationship,” Kendricks said. “You appreciate playing against him but you also hate it because the game plan is always changing, he makes adjustments by the drive, by the quarter, by the half. You’re kind of just forced to chase him around to see where you’re going. I’m really curious to see what they do in Chicago because I feel like they’ve been building their team out for a couple years now, they’re a sleeper team. Ben Johnson, my favorite coordinator, love-hate him, but I think he’s going to get things cracking there.”
Kendricks isn’t the first, and unlikely to be the last, former player who has gone up against Johnson to give him his credit for the offensive schemes he’s ran. The more conversation there is around Johnson and what he’s done in the past, the more the expectations are likely to rise in Chicago.
It’ll be a developmental process for quarterback Caleb Williams and his new head coach, but it says a lot about Johnson when former opponents are singing his praises.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Former Vikings LB has love-hate relationship with Bears HC Ben Johnson
Reporting by Mike Pendleton, Bears Wire / Bears Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
