Not that Bears quarterback Caleb Williams needed a reminder of it, but even after a thrilling playoff win and buoyant offseason pushed his popularity to a new peak, this is still very much Ben Johnson’s team.
Johnson runs the show, and when the Bears begin training camp with their first practice Wednesday, what he says goes. And while he raved about Williams’ talent — “He’s got it all,” he said — as players reported to Halas Hall on Tuesday, he emphasized the necessary step from potential to true stardom.
It’ll require quite a leap from Williams in completion percentage as he works to sharpen the basics and become a better clockwork passer for some of the simpler parts of Johnson’s offense. The big plays are still going to be there, but he needs a solid foundation underneath them.
Among players who threw at least 250 passes last season, Williams finished last in the NFL with a 58.1 completion percentage. That was after Johnson opened training camp a year ago saying the standard was 70%, both in practices and games.
Johnson laughed when asked if he would back off that target. Absolutely not.
“It’s always going to be the goal,” Johnson said. “You’re going to have a darn good offense if your quarterback’s completing 70% of the balls thrown.”
