Ben Johnson’s blunt message to players before first Bears preseason game

The Chicago Bears have a new sense of energy surrounding them, and maybe because of head coach Ben Johnson, who is looking to get the best out of all of his players. In their first preseason game against the Miami Dolphins, the starters did not play, but that didn't mean that the message was any different from Johnson. Tyson Bagent was the quarterback in the first half, and after the game, he shared what Johnson told the team beforehand, according to Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times.

“The game doesn’t count,” Bagent recalled Johnson saying. “But the game matters.”

It was obvious it mattered to Johnson, because on a fourth and goal situation in the second quarter, he was seen being animated on the sideline trying to get the play in to Bagent. The quarterback recalled the moment of what Johnson was saying to him.

“Probably something like, ‘We’re going for it,’ ’’ Bagent said. “And throw in a couple of filler words there.”

Bagent connected with Maurice Alexander in the back of the end zone for a touchdown to tie the game at 7.

“I was told today was Family Day, and so we had a lot of kids,” Johnson said. “It’s probably a good thing they couldn’t hear me on the sideline.”