LAKE FOREST, Ill. – After Sunday night, Ben Johnson will take some time off as the Bears’ bye week hits on the schedule.

“As much as my wife wants me to,” Johnson said. 

He doesn’t know what their plans will be yet.

“I’ll find out after the game what she wants to do, and we’ll go from there,” Johnson said. “But if we’re in town, it’s going to be hard not to come here for at least a little bit.”

Not that he’s thinking about next week and what he’s going to do with his free time. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Sunday Night Football have Johnson’s full attention right now. 

Here’s everything you need to know from the podium to the injury report to the Bears locker room before kickoff in Week 9.

1. The Bears can’t stop saying nice, glowing things about defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons.

Johnson described Simmons’ impact on his team as “fairly dramatic,” considering he’s only played one game. Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said that Simmons “raises the level of everybody on the field.” 

And quarterback Caleb Williams called him “a difference maker” who “makes everyone else’s job easy” and took note of how Simmons helped clean the Bears’ locker room in Seattle.

“He wasn’t here and I spoke to guys and said, ‘Let’s make sure we clean up, let’s take care of our people,’ and he wasn’t here when I said it,” Williams said. “One of the first things he does after the game is clean up. He’s an All-Pro guy; he’s a this and that. He could walk out, and nobody would say anything or pay any mind, and he’s cleaning up the whole locker room, offensive and defensive side. That’s who he is.”

2. The Jeffery Simmons Show is just getting started.

How Simmons changes Dennis Allen’s approach on defense still needs to play out over the rest of the season. The win in Seattle was just a preview. The bye week could provide the defensive staff with time to alter their plans. But Simmons has talked repeatedly about the importance of generating pressure with only the front four.

“When a defensive coordinator is blitzing a lot in a football game, it means we’re not doing our job up front,” Simmons said. “Especially when guys are getting them one-on-ones, we have to win our one-on-ones.”

Simmons’ encore will be at Soldier Field.

“I can’t wait to experience that home crowd,” he said.  

And if the Bears do win, this time he’ll be ready for Ben Johnson’s “Good, better, best.”

“I’ve definitely been on YouTube trying to figure that and make sure I’m good for the next game,” Simmons said. “So next game, especially when I’m in the camera like that, I’ll know the words.”

3. The Bears have raised the proverbial bar for defensive end Montez Sweat for the rest of the season.

Sweat had three sacks against the Seahawks but penalties officially wiped out two of them. It was apparent that he was motivated after his suspension and by the arrival of Jeffery Simmons, a teammate at Mississippi State. Now the goal – the team’s expectation – is to keep it all going starting on Sunday Night Football. 

“(Sweat) played really well,” defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said. “Obviously, he was motivated to get back out there and play. So that was good to see. And quite frankly, that’s the version that we expect to see every single week. And so I think everybody had a little bit of an uptick. One: going into Seattle, knowing the opponent that we were playing. Two: having a guy like Jeffery Simmons on the field, which kind of raises everybody’s level of play. 

“And so now really the key for us defensively is how do we continue to do that consistently week in and week out? That’s the challenge in our league that you have to be able to show up each and every week and perform at a high level.”

4. Left tackle Theo Benedet played through his right shoulder injury against the Seahawks and should be good to go on Sunday night.

The Bears held off on their rotation at left tackle in Seattle. It wasn’t the right time, place or matchup for Ozzy Trapilo to sneak in some work. The Bears stuck with Benedet for every snap.

“We just thought that was the best opportunity for that game,” offensive coordinator Press Taylor. “Based on that matchup, how he was playing, it was just kind of the way it went that particular week.”

Benedet was limited in practice on Thursday and a full participant on Friday. He doesn’t have an injury designation for Sunday night. 

“He ended up going to the training room after the game,” Ben Johnson said. “I wasn’t even aware during the game that he was feeling something. A lot of those guys, things will pop up over the course of the game, and your adrenaline helps get you through the rest of it, and I don’t even know until we get on the plane or something like that that we’re dealing with some stuff.”

5. Running back Kyle Monangai’s turf toe turned out to be a more problematic and time-consuming injury than initially anticipated – but he’s getting closer. 

Ben Johnson said that Monangai was “getting better” before practice on Friday – and then there he was on the field later that day. He’s officially listed as questionable after missing four consecutive games.

“Each injury is a little bit different and you try to get a timeline, an approximation of what you think it could be, and some guys come back a little bit sooner, some guys take a little bit longer,” Johnson said. “Those toe injuries, those can be fickle at times and that’s what this one’s proved to be.”

6. Facing a Buccaneers defense led by coach Todd Bowles will be another worthy challenge for Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams. 

Johnson described Bowles’ blitz-heavy scheme as “chaos.”

“That’s what stands out,” he said. 

Heading into Week 9, Tampa Bay’s defense ranked fifth in points per game, third in net yards per game, second in rushing, ninth in passing, fifth on third downs and first in takeaways. 

One key difference from previous matchups is Bowles’ preference for single-high safety looks, which he plays at a high rate.

“That always gives you an extra defender in the box you got to account for, so schematically, it’s very challenging to run the ball,” Johnson said. “And then when you have the talent on the defensive line and in the linebacker crew that they have, those are tough yards to come by. So I think it starts there. 

“And then when he gets you off schedule and these obvious passing situations, whether it’s second-and-long or third down, that’s where he draws up all these exotics and creates a lot of issues for the quarterback. I think the linebackers are doing a great job just stiffing out pass concepts and understanding what windows to be in. He mixes up man and zone.”

7. Bucs linebacker Alex Anzalone is a player to watch this week because of his familiarity with Ben Johnson.

Anzalone earned NFC defensive player of the week honors this week after making two interceptions in Tampa’s 16-0 win in heavy rain against the Atlanta Falcons. He played the previous five seasons with the Detroit Lions, which includes Johnson’s full three years as offensive coordinator. 

“He’s a smart, instinctive, fast player,” Johnson said. “He really came on there in Detroit. Have a lot of respect for him, especially playing against him last year there as well. Hard to get anything past him. He does a great job communicating. And with all the little wrinkles that they have on defense – that’s a huge part of what they do – he’s a big reason why they’re hitting their stride right now defensively. They’ve really been on the uptick throughout the season. His comfort within the defense, what coach (Todd) Bowles is asking him to do, is sky-high at this point. He’s what, 32 years old, and yet, you see him running around. He runs as well as anybody out there. Huge challenge with him. Ton of respect for him as well.”

Before joining the Lions, Anzalone spent four seasons with the New Orleans Saints after being drafted in the third round in 2017. Dennis Allen was his defensive coordinator for all four years with the Saints.

8. Bucs safety Antoine Winfield and defensive tackle Vita Vea are also players to watch when the Bears are on offense. 

In detailing the “chaos” and coverage of Todd Bowles’ defensive scheme, coach Ben Johnson mentioned what Winfield does on the back end.

“He’s a ball hawk back there,” Johnson said. “And then when he comes down, he’ll light you up as well in the running game.”

Johnson went a step further with Via. He put the 6-4, 347-pound tackle in the game-changer category when he was asked about Jeffery Simmons.

“Tampa’s got a guy kinda like that as well in Vita Vea,” Johnson said. “There are game changers out there that, as an offensive play caller, you’ve gotta account for. You hear all the time about defensive coordinators: they want to take out the best playmakers on the offense. Well, it’s a little bit of the same thing for an offensive play caller. How do we minimize that individual’s impact on the game the best that we can? Sometimes those plans work. Other times they don’t. 

“I think it was last year, we play the Raiders, and Maxx Crosby — even though everything was predicated around him — still finds a way. I think those guys are rare. I think Jeffery’s one of those guys. We’re very fortunate to have him.”

9. Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen is preparing for a battle up front with the Buccaneers’ run game.

After nine weeks, the Bucs rank first in the NFL with 168.6 rushing yards per game. That can be broken down by wins and losses, though. In their three wins, the Bucs have rushed for 823 yards. In their five losses – which include the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers – they’ve totaled 526. 

Running back Bucky Irving, who went to Hillcrest High School in Hazel Crest, Ill., is fourth in the NFL with 728 rushing yards.

“They’re running the ball extremely well,” Allen said. “I think their offensive line is physical. I think this team just plays really hard and they play a physical brand of football, so it’s gonna take a lot of physicality. It’s gonna take great eyes and eye discipline and making sure we’re in the right spots. And then it’s going to take all 11 swarming the football. That’s really the key to being able to stop a running game like this. They block it well, and I think these runners do an exceptional job of finding the right spot.

10. Overall, the injury report was a positive one for the Bears. 

Defensive tackle Grady Jarrett is good to go against the Bucs. Jarrett suffered a hamstring injury in Seattle. But he doesn’t have a designation for Sunday night. 

The same is true for linebacker D’Marco Jackson, who returned to practice on Friday after sitting out with an ankle problem.

Cornerback Tyrique Stevenson was added to the injury report with a thumb injury. But rookie Malik Muhammad II practiced every day in a limited capacity as he works out his toe injury. Both players are listed as questionable.