Ben Johnson clocks in; hopefully he'll manage games better than his Bears predecessor

Bears head coach Ben Johnson isn’t playing most of his starters Sunday, but the first preseason game against the Dolphins is an important dry run for at least one person — Johnson himself.

‘‘There’s no question,’’ he said.

Johnson spent the offseason watching film and testing himself about what he would do in certain situations — whether to call a timeout, go for it on fourth down or any of a series of a thousand small decisions head coaches have to make in a given game.

He has spent the offseason program training his players about what certain code words mean when the Bears want to run plays at faster or slower tempos, depending on the score, or when to spike the ball or do whatever else a ticking clock requires from them.

As outdated as preseason games have become, they still offer a great testing ground for in-game decisions. Johnson, who never has been a head coach at any level, gets his first trial Sunday.

‘‘We’ve done a lot behind the scenes with our walkthrough settings that both educate the players and allow the coaching staff to get on the same page with what’s going on and what some of the words mean,’’ Johnson said. ‘‘Once you get into crunch time and the guns are going off, you have to make sure that one word tells everybody what’s going on.

‘‘It has been a learning process because it’s our first year doing it all together.’’

The Bears are used to head coaches learning on the fly. Except for three seasons of John Fox and two of Paddy Driscoll, every head coach in franchise history came to Halas Hall without previous NFL head-coaching experience.

Johnson’s ability to manage game situations, however, takes on special meaning this season. He wouldn’t have the job had Matt Eberflus not mangled game management last season on his way to becoming the first Bears head coach fired during the season:

• With the Bears trailing the Lions by three on Thanksgiving, quarterback Caleb Williams was sacked with 32 seconds left. Rather than call a timeout to stop the clock, Eberflus had the Bears line up quickly. Williams checked into a different play, but the ball wasn’t snapped until there were six seconds left, and Williams heaved an incompletion as time expired. Eberflus defended his decision and was fired the next day.

• With the Bears leading the Commanders by a field goal in Week 8, Eberflus had his defense play soft coverage while quarterback Jayden Daniels completed passes of 11 and 13 yards to move the team within ‘‘Hail Mary’’ range. Eberflus didn’t take a timeout at any point, even when some on the team saw cornerback Tyrique Stevenson shouting toward fans in the stands. Daniels was close enough to reach the end zone with his heave, which landed in the arms of the man Stevenson was supposed to cover.

• With the Bears trailing the Packers by two with 35 seconds left in Week 11, the Bears handed the ball to running back Roschon Johnson for two yards before letting the clock run all the way down to three seconds. Eberflus used his final timeout to set up a 46-yard field-goal try on second down. It was blocked.

Eberflus was in his third season, not his first. The Bears’ roster was so depleted early in his tenure, however, that he didn’t have a database of close games from which to draw. He won only three of his first 21 games.

Johnson has no database at all. He can’t repeat those mistakes, however, no matter how inexperienced he might be.

‘‘I know he’s calling the plays and things like that,’’ safety Kevin Byard said Friday. ‘‘But also another responsibility of a head coach is being able to be great in situations, timeouts and all these other situations. I just think us being in the team meetings, he’s dialed in with everything. . . . We know last season had a lot of those situations. I think it’s going to be really good this year.’’

Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen has been in Johnson’s shoes before. He was 39 when the Raiders made him a first-time head coach in 2013. Johnson turned 39 in May.

‘‘You’re watching tape, and you’re trying to put yourself through as many of those scenarios as you can,’’ Allen said. ‘‘When we’re out here at practice, you’re putting yourself through those scenarios. But, ultimately, there’s no substitute for being in live battle and being able to do those things. . . .

‘‘It’s all dress rehearsal for the regular season. I think all of us will learn — players, coaches, everybody alike.’’

That includes headset communication with his coaches. Allen will be standing on the sideline, while many of his position coaches will be in the press box. The Bears still are working through whether offensive coordinator Declan Doyle will be upstairs or not.

It took only an hour of Family Fest last Sunday for Johnson to figure out what he wanted and what he didn’t like. He wants coaches talking on their headsets only when it’s absolutely necessary.

‘‘I don’t like a lot of chatter on the lines,’’ Johnson said with a smile. ‘‘Those guys already got that memo.’’

They’ll learn more details Sunday and in the final two preseason games. After all, there’s only so many scenarios in which Johnson can test himself during practice.

‘‘That’s really why I’m excited about these preseason games,’’ Johnson said, ‘‘is that it’s actually going to occur organically.’’