So far, we have seen plenty to love at Green Bay Packers training camp. And, there's definitely a pun intended, there. Jordan Love has said and done all of the right things. The Packers look to be ascending.
And, as much as we poke fun at the Chicago Bears every year for the offseason hype they somehow receive, it might be time to start taking them a little more serious. After Tuesday's practice, a plethora of Bears beat reporters called it the toughest practice they've ever seen in their history covering the team.
Some of these reporters said things like "I've never seen as much live tackling in a practice that we witnessed today" and "The Bears just finished the most physical practice I've ever seen in my life."
Those quotes came from the well-respected Courtney Cronin (ESPN) and Patrick Finley (Chicago Sun-Times).
Is it finally time to start taking the Chicago Bears seriously under Ben Johnson?
It's a question Packer fans will still laugh at until they are proven otherwise. We have been down a similar road before, and we have to remember, this is local hype.
Even so, to hear reporters calling this the most physical practice they have ever seen, and knowing many of these individuals have been in their field for several years, is notable to say the least. This does sound like something the Bears have yet to be a part of in recent years.
Just look at their post-Lovie Smith history: Matt Eberflus, Matt Nagy, John Fox and Marc Trestman.
All four of those head coaches failed to change the culture for the better. None of them necessarily inspired confidence; maybe the best of the bunch was Nagy. But even so, Nagy couldn't form full sentences to save his life. His press conferences were typically comedy gold.
Coming out of the Eberflus era, the Bears were basically begging their coaching staff to be harder on them last year. The team knew they didn't have a real coach.
Now, maybe they do. We still don't know if Ben Johnson is a better coordinator than he is a head coach. But, just in case he's the real deal, the Packers should be paying close attention. Instead of thinking these games might be a walk in the park, it might be time for this rivalry to become ... well, a rivalry, again.