Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson put his players on notice: the price of last season's success is a harder training camp this summer at Halas Hall in Lake Forest.

"You've got to pay a price," Johnson said as the Bears wrapped up mandatory minicamp on Thursday, June 11.

The message landed five weeks before rookies report to Halas Hall on Saturday, July 25, with veterans following Tuesday, July 28. It will be the first training camp since Johnson led Chicago to an 11-6 record, the franchise's first NFC North title since 2018, and its first playoff victory in 15 years.

Johnson, who served as Detroit's offensive coordinator before being hired as the Bears' head coach in January 2025, set public benchmarks during last year's run. He told reporters the goal was to win 11 games, then win the division, then secure a first-round bye. The Bears achieved the first two, beat Green Bay 31-27 in the Wild Card round, then fell to the Los Angeles Rams 20-17 in overtime in the Divisional round.

Johnson enters his second season looking to push past that January exit.

Quarterback Caleb Williams enters camp after setting a Bears single-season record with 3,942 passing yards and leading seven fourth-quarter comebacks in 2025, the most by any NFL quarterback in a single season according to Bears Wire.