It would’ve been easy for Bears coach Ben Johnson to throw his predecessors a bone and give them a morsel of credit for steering quarterback Caleb Williams through his rookie season. All he’d have to do is make a vague mention of some basic concepts Matt Eberflus and Shane Waldron introduced.
Nope.
“There really isn’t a ton of carryover from what he was asked to do, the play calls or anything of that nature,” Johnson said before rolling into a list of new tasks he has for Williams. “There’s a lot more going on mentally than probably there’s ever been for him.”
Williams spent nearly nine months, including playing over 1,000 game snaps, with NFL coaches. There’s got to be something worthwhile in there. Surely Eberflus’ staff taught him something beyond how to use a Slip ‘N Slide, right?
Doesn’t seem like it. Williams will have a better grasp of the pace of training camp and the flow of a game week, Johnson said, but other than that, “There’s a lot different than there was for him a year ago.”
Given the coaches’ code and aversion to smearing a peer, that’s about as close to a bus toss as you’ll hear.
Johnson is saying it without saying it: At least Williams got some firsthand looks at masterful defensive coordinators and deceptive safeties, but that might be about it.
He appears to be approaching him like a rookie, which the Bears should’ve done last season when he actually was one rather than overestimate his capabilities because he was such an overwhelming college player. Johnson is building him from the ground up, quite literally, starting with his footwork and going all the way through how he views the field.
That’s what Williams asked for, by the way, and so far, he has been enthusiastically receptive.
The fact that Johnson is essentially starting from scratch illuminates the depth of the coaching malpractice by Eberflus and Waldron. It also gives context to his choppy training camp, which continued Tuesday morning.
Williams and the first-string offense closed with a frustrating two-minute drill in which the defensive line was in his face on every play and the pass coverage was airtight.
Johnson promised when he took the job in January that this would be hard, and he is delivering on that. Williams has a long way to go, and fortunately for him, he still has more than a month before playing a real game.
Johnson said last week, “At some point, this thing will start slowing down and he’s going to be able to catch up.” In the meantime, he’s been “playing a little bit slower than what he’s capable of.”
That’s actually a very solid explanation. Not only is Johnson better suited than Eberflus when it comes to developing a quarterback, he’s a better communicator, too.
He consistently has conveyed confidence while maintaining a refreshing bluntness about the work ahead. He has been able to give an honest view of where Williams stands while still crediting the progress he’s made and casting a bold vision of where he’s headed.
“I see growth,” Johnson said before practice Tuesday. “I’m really pleased with [his process]. He’s doing the work behind the scenes that no one else is seeing, and we’re starting to see the dividends being paid from it.”
It’s on Williams to back that up. If he does, it’s going to be a fun season. It’s hard to see that now, of course, but he’s got time. And either way, now that they’ve finally gotten him proper coaching, the Bears will find out exactly how good he actually is.
