Less than a week after the Chicago Bears’ season ended in the NFC divisional round in January, head coach Ben Johnson already had moved on.

The Bears had accomplished plenty of firsts in Johnson’s inaugural season in charge. A return to the playoffs, a playoff win, an NFC North championship. But he said Chicago would have to start from the ground up all over again if it wanted to get back to the playoffs for the first time in consecutive seasons since 2006.

Building that foundation started for the Bears in earnest this week with the start of organized team activities.

“We start all over,” running back D’Andre Swift said Thursday at Halas Hall in Lake Forest. “We ain’t thinking about last year. New opportunity, that’s how I look at it. What we did last year was last year. Whole new season, whole new opportunity – one that I’m excited for- just build off of it. It was a good year last year. I’m not going to downplay it at all, but it’s over with. We’ve got to do more.”

Swift and his teammates won’t completely move on from what they learned last year, however.

Chicago is in a much better spot starting OTA compared with this time last year. Players understand what the expectations are from Johnson and the coaching staff compared with starting from scratch last offseason. They know what coaches are looking for, from body language and communication to consistency and finish.

Johnson has noticed that returning players haven’t skipped a beat on both sides of the ball. They’ve picked up where they left off last season. There’s a lot less thinking about what they’re supposed to be doing and just doing it instead.

“There’s just a different level of, I don’t want to say comfort, but they know,” Johnson said. “They know what it’s supposed to look like. And so, that’s a good thing. We can kind of hit the ground running a little bit.”

That includes the quarterback room, most importantly, Caleb Williams.

The operation Thursday looked smoother than it had at the start of training camp last year. There still were some false-start issues during Thursday’s practice that reporters were allowed to watch. But that is expected early in the offseason program with some new players.

Williams showed that he mastered different aspects of the pre-snap, such as communication, breaking the huddle and urgency at the line of scrimmage. Now the coaching staff is looking for Williams to take that next step over the coming weeks and months.

“Now it’s the next level of each concept,” Johnson said. “What are we trying to do and potentially expanding on, ‘Hey, here’s your progression .. one, two, three’ to how can we accelerate our eyes, our vision. What are we looking for? Some coverage indicators to where we might take more alerts, things of that nature. So, a little bit more minute with it, but those guys have been really receptive to it.”

Chicago also got to work with near-perfect attendance.

Defensive end Montez Sweat was the most notable starter not spotted at practice Thursday. That doesn’t mean he hasn’t been in the building during the offseason. The Bears have shared social media videos that showed Sweat’s attendance, and he might’ve just not practiced Thursday.

Other notable absences included offensive tackle Ozzy Trapilo, defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo, linebackers T.J. Edwards and Noah Sewell, and defensive tackle Shemar Turner, all of whom battled injuries last season. Rookie linebacker Keyshaun Elliott and cornerback Malik Muhammad didn’t practice either.

Cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon both practiced Thursday. Johnson was a full participant, while Gordon took part in individual drills.

“We start all over. We ain’t thinking about last year. New opportunity, that’s how I look at it. What we did last year was last year. Whole new season, whole new opportunity — one that I’m excited for just build off of it. It was a good year last year. I’m not going to downplay it at all, but it’s over with. We’ve got to do more.”

Jaylon Johnson hadn’t been a part of the team’s offseason workouts until this week. Players aren’t required to work out with teams until minicamp in June.

Ben Johnson appreciated Jaylon Johnson joining his teammates this week as the team hit the field for practices.

“[It’s a] voluntary program, so everyone’s got different ways they want to go about their business, but I appreciate him being here now with his teammates and getting to know them,” Ben Johnson said. “We have a lot of new faces in the building, so you can’t overstate the importance of that. It’s just getting to know your buddy, because you’re going to lay it out on the line for him on game day, and so that’s what we’re looking to do right now.”

The importance of attending OTA is something veteran defensive tackle Grady Jarrett learned later in his 12-year NFL career.

Jarrett didn’t always attend OTA practices when he was younger. But as time went on, he learned that the practices in late May and early June are when teams set the foundation for playoff runs, something the Bears are working toward starting this week.

“I think just spending the time in the building, I think one is just enjoying what you do for work,” Jarrett said. “I enjoy working out. I enjoy football. Not really much else I want to be doing right now. I like being here. I like being around the game and really just trying to find the things in my game to where I can continue to be better, and to spend this time with each other as a team, I think, is critical. Our season is made in the offseason. I truly believe that.”