Column: Adding Joe Thuney, Grady Jarrett and others helps solve one of the Chicago Bears' biggest issues

LAKE FOREST, Ill. - The waning hours of the Chicago Bears' loss to the Washington Commanders were the most painful.

The Hail Mary shocked the Bears into a 10-game losing streak. We didn't know it then, but we sure found out soon enough. What made that pill more bitter to swallow was when tight end Cole Kmet called out his teammates for not respecting the game.

"I think we had examples of that throughout the game and quite frankly throughout the week of practice this past week," Kmet said on Oct. 29. "There are moments where maybe some guys lay off here and there, those are the types of things that can happen when you do that for just a split-second. It doesn't always come to bite you in the butt but when it does, it hurts. That's the unfortunate and I would also say the beauty of this game, if you disrespect it in a certain way and it'll come to haunt you in some form or fashion."

It became the biggest issue the Bears had last season. They drank their own Kool-Aid. They didn't take care of the little things. 

Enter: Joe Thuney, Grady Jarrett, Drew Dalman, Dayo Odeyingbo and Jonah Jackson. Odeyingbo and Dalman haven't had extensive playoff runs like Jackson, Jarrett and Thuney had, but all these players are cut from the same cloth.

They respect every facet of the game. It'll solve the Bears' biggest issue from last season, which was the lack of accountability in key areas.

It's easy to see how a player like Thuney can help solve that. I mean, he even said it himself nearly verbatim. 

"I've been fortunate to watch Tom and Pat and just be in the huddle with them and see how they approach the day-to-day, the boring things that seem boring and repetitious," Thuney said. "They still attack them with the same intensity and they just know the playbook inside and out and they really have such a passion for the game."

When the Bears were cleaning out their lockers after the season-finale win over Green Bay, they mentioned how talent was never the issue. The reality was the Bears tried to skip a step or two.

Thuney, who was an All-Pro left tackle in 2024 when guard was his natural position, is a perfect example. He did the little things at a high level so well, he was an All-Pro at two positions. The Bears have that leadership in place now. General manager Ryan Poles solved one of his biggest issues.

This is good because first-year head coach Ben Johnson is going to push this roster.

"Year one, we should not be comfortable," Johnson said. "As we're coming into the springtime, we're going to load these guys up, we're going to see what they can handle, we're going to fail and that's okay. That's part of how you learn and how you grow and you get better. We’re going to encourage that as a coaching staff. Nothing about this is about making it easier."

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Building a stout Chicago Bears offensive line won't be easy, but Drew Dalman could be the X-factor

This offseason, the Bears added All-Pro Joe Thuney and Pro Bowler Jonah Jackson before free agency even began. But new center Drew Dalman can be the X-factor.

Johnson spoke for about a minute on this topic. He was asked about adding veterans to the line, and if that would make it easier for the new-look offensive line to get more accustomed to each other.

"Easy" is not something Johnson considers in his first year.

"It shouldn't be easy," Johnson said. "This should be hard, the spring should be hard, training camp should be hard. Anything worth doing is hard. It's going to take a lot of work. It's going to take a lot of effort."

He's right. 

The Bears had so many missteps last season when so many fans, experts and those internally had massive expectations for them. 

It won't be easy. That doesn't mean the Bears can't find common ground. Dalman mentioned it is a help the newcomers on the Bears line are coming in at the same time. They get to learn with each other and figure out what the offensive line can look like.

"It's helpful that everybody's in the same boat, at least from my perspective," Dalman said."If you're joining something established, there's probably a sense of trying to get to speed and I definitely felt that when I was joining with the Falcons and everything."

The Bears are setting expectations early.

They're going to fail. Johnson knows that learning is never linear from his time in Detroit, and his time in Miami, too. 

The Bears don't just need to work on the mundane things, they have to. It's a non-negotiable and Johnson got the guys who know this.

It's going to be a grueling offseason when OTAs and minicamps arrive.

Johnson wouldn't have it any other way.

"So yeah," Johnson said before widening a smile. "It's going to be fun."