LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Ben Johnson doesn’t let things slide. The relatively new Bears head coach is a stickler for the details and isn’t afraid to halt a practice rep to make sure it’s done right.

We’ve seen him intensely correct Cole Kmet’s alignment at OTAs and make the offense re-huddle until the play-calling operation gets right. He has even gotten on DJ Moore for bad body language in practice (more on that later).

He wants all the little things done just so, establishing a standard to execute as close to perfect as possible.

“Whether it’s with (Caleb Williams’) cadence and how he says the play in the huddle, with alignments and techniques, making the right calls — it’s every day and it’s relentless,” tight end Cole Kmet said after Tuesday’s minicamp practice. “He’s definitely thrown a lot at us in this short time here in the spring. I think he wants to challenge us as a group to see what we can handle. I think we’ve done a pretty good job so far. There’s definitely been some ups and downs throughout the way, but I think that’s kind of the method to the madness so far.”

The Bears have experienced plenty of corrections over the last few weeks. They’ve had seven practices in close proximity, building rep counts in these new schemes while working with Johnson’s standard.

He said there’s growth evident in recent sessions, a sign that the team’s starting to figure it out as they progress. The coaching staff has thrown a ton at the players during this evaluation period, where guys are doing a little of everything as coaches figure out who does what best.

Seeing improvement and fewer repeat mistakes is key at this final stage before the offseason program ends.

“We’re seeing gradual improvement. It’s been great,” Johnson said. “Six practices over the previous two weeks, and then one here today. You can see growth from each guy. You can see growth from each unit. It’s pretty cool to see it all come together.”

While the corrections aren’t coming as often, they’ll never stop. That’s not part of Johnson’s personality or the tone he has set for the staff.

“It’s like an obsession with the details and you can feel that from him,” Kmet said. “He just can’t let it go. You feel that from him, whether it’s on the field or in the meeting room he brings that with him wherever he’s at.”

DJ Moore cutting out bad body language

Johnson has been working to eliminate the bad body language he too often saw while watching last year’s tape. He showed Caleb Williams film of him looking down and out, but the young quarterback was far from the only culprit.

Receiver DJ Moore might be one of the more expressive individuals on the roster, and you know when he’s not thrilled on the sidelines.

Johnson saw some of that during a recent practice and told Moore to fix it right away.

“I’m going to be honest right now, and then we aren’t going to talk about it,” Moore said. “I did it once and then we nipped it in the bud, and it never happened again.”

While Moore is prone to showing disappointment, the veteran receiver is committed to cutting that out of his game-day (and practice) experience.

“Just don’t do it,” Moore said. “Just keep it inside. We talked about it later and just don’t put it on film. Don’t put it on TV. So, you guys can’t run with it (laughter). So that’s how it is.”

Left tackle rotation

While Johnson has said there are no depth charts yet, there’s clearly a first-team offensive line. At four spots, anyway. Left guard Joe Thuney, center Drew Dalman, right guard Jonah Jackson and right tackle Darnell Wright work almost exclusively together while building continuity.

The left tackle spot isn’t as stable with Braxton Jones still recovering from ankle surgery. They have alternated having Ozzy Trapilo and Kiran Amegadjie work with the first unit in practice, and Tuesday was the Yale product’s day. Both young players are being evaluated and, no matter who ends up at left tackle this season, Johnson has a clear vision for what he needs at the position.

“You need to be able to block their best pass rusher, one on one, and that’s, to me, the number one job,” Johnson said. “Everything we can get out of them in the run game will be gravy on top of it, but we have to find out who the best pass-protector is, the most consistent pass-protector is, and, really, that’s for all five guys up front.”

Practice notes

The passing offense looks disjointed, as you’d expect for a group learning a new offensive scheme. The timing seems a bit off, but that’ll correct itself over time as the coaches start to refine roles and preferred options from the playbook. …QB Caleb Williams threw an interception to Nahshon Johnson early in the session. Rome Odunze had a ball ripped from his grasp by Tyrique Stevenson in a seven-on-seven drill and Olamide Zaccheaus had a bad drop. Most of the issues seemed to be about sync, which is super correctable. … Kyler Gordon, Terell Smith, Colston Loveland, T.J. Edwards, and Luther Burden were among those injured and not working on Tuesday. Jaylon Johnson and Kevin Byard III were dressed and active but didn’t do much in team drills. The same could be said for Grady Jarrett and Montez Sweat.