Bears QB Caleb Williams eager to put in hard work under Ben Johnson over next 5 months (2025)

One of the most flattering compliments Bears quarterback Caleb Williams has heard in his young NFL career came when new coach Ben Johnson said in January he took the job — after years of turning down other offers — in large part because of Williams.

Williams was bedraggled after a brutal rookie season in which the offensive line couldn’t protect him, his coaches had little idea what they were doing and questions swirled about how good he really was. It must have been uplifting to hear Johnson be so convinced that he was willing to bet his career on it.

But Johnson made that decision based on what he believes Williams can become, not what he has been. While Williams’ talent attracted him to the job, Williams’ development will be vital to Johnson keeping it. That puts a tremendous demand on Williams.

He bounded into the media room at Halas Hall on Tuesday exuberant about the grind that awaits him. Johnson has a wide-ranging plan to teach, unteach and reteach Williams over the next five months, and none of it will be easy as he pushes Williams to improve beyond his natural strengths. It’s going to be hard, and it’s exactly what Williams has been wanting.

“I’m super excited about it,” he said. “We can’t wait to put in the work.”

Throughout his time with the Bears, Williams has desperately wanted to be coached harder and pushed to get better. He’s getting his wish. Johnson brings expertise and accountability that was missing under former coach Matt Eberflus and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron.

He surprised Williams and the other quarterbacks Tuesday morning by bursting into their room during a meeting — “Made a grand entrance,” Williams said — and quizzing them about concepts he’d covered the day before to see how much stuck. He’s got a friendly disposition, but he’s clearly not playing around.

“Already, first day in and [he’s] challenging us,” Williams said. “Everybody loves a challenge in this sport. Every day is a challenge, and today we got our first one.”

Many more will follow.

Johnson wants Williams working under center, which isn’t his forte after primarily playing out of the shotgun in college and last season. He wants him to make quicker, more authoritative decisions in the pocket. Williams’ struggle to do that last season was a significant part of the equation that led to him taking an NFL-high 68 sacks. And he wants to reframe the way Williams interprets the game altogether.

Johnson has been hammering advanced statistics of Expected Points Added and Completion Percentage Over Expected as the true difference-makers in the modern NFL, as opposed to Eberflus’ and others’ fixation on turnovers. The quick and simple explanation of EPA and CPOE is that they’re based predominantly on quarterback play contributing to points.

Johnson is far more concerned with Williams completing a high percentage of his passes and maximizing downfield yardage on his throws than he is with Williams setting the rookie record of 353 consecutive passes without an interception. That streak coincided with a 10-game losing streak, in which Williams completed just 59.9% of his passes, threw for under 200 yards five times and averaged only 6.2 yards per pass.

Lions quarterback Jared Goff, for example, threw twice as many interceptions last season as Williams but trounced him in yards per game and per pass, passer rating and TD passes.

It would’ve been ideal for the Bears to have such infrastructure for Williams when they drafted him No. 1 last year rather than leave his NFL onboarding in the clumsy hands of Eberflus and Waldron.

Johnson will spend part of this offseason assessing how much Williams truly learned as a rookie. Taking 1,123 NFL snaps helped him develop a database of coverages and personnel, but there’s no doubt he’ll be hearing a lot of things for the first time under Johnson.

His ability to teach and Williams’ proficiency in learning will determine how quickly the process goes. Better to start a year late than never. The Bears tried matching predecessors Justin Fields and Mitch Trubisky with coaches who could enhance them. Williams appears to be getting that shot with Johnson, and he already was imagining that combination enduring “for years to come” as they ascend together.

“Us growing together is key, starting now,” Williams said. “Him pushing me is key. I know that, and he knows that. Building that bond is going to be fun.”

He mused about a future in which, four years into their time together, he’d be able to predict Johnson’s play-calls in real time like Goff could.

A lot of teams have established coach-quarterback connections like that, but it has eluded the Bears. Matt Nagy grew increasingly frustrated with Trubisky, and Fields and former offensive coordinator Luke Getsy were mismatched from the jump.

Their hope is that they’ve finally nailed it with Johnson and Williams. Both have undeniable talent. But it’ll require hard work on the practice field and in meeting rooms, early mornings and late nights and valuing every day of the offseason to convert potential into proof. Williams’ eagerness to attack that task is a good start.