Bears quarterback Caleb Williams could write a book about the misadventures of his first two training camps, and a tell-all on that would be riveting.
First there was his rookie onboarding, which would be a scramble for anyone, but even more so under former coach Matt Eberflus, then the relentless deluge of information and criticism from Ben Johnson in their first camp together. The latter was such an intense experience that Williams described it as “drowning.”
Camp has been just as strenuous this year — Johnson has no let-up, ever — but Williams is more at ease with it.
He still has ample work to do and much to prove, particularly as a consistent, efficient passer, but this part of the process is more comfortable. He accepts that there will be great days and bad ones — neither of which should make him overreact.
“I’m head above water,” he said, laughing to himself.
It helps to have a firm handle on what Johnson wants, and Johnson said Williams has been able to identify his mistakes without needing them pointed out. That’s the first step toward making fewer of them, and the real test of that won’t come until the opener Sept. 13 at the Panthers.
In the meantime, Williams is unlikely to play in the first preseason game Saturday against the Browns. He should get extensive work in a joint practice with the Bengals next week and the Titans the week after, but whether he plays in preseason games against those teams likely hinges on how sharp the offense looks in practice.
Johnson has been pleased overall, but seems like he might be on the brink of turning up the heat after seeing a “plateau” this week.
It’s a sign of growth in their relationship that Williams wasn’t bothered by that feedback. The tediousness of training camp requires him to have “that mental fortitude” to maintain focus throughout and remain undeterred by setbacks.
“I’ve gotten better with that,” Williams said. “Just being able to encourage myself, being able to get out of those funks.”
All of it, while far from a finished product, is coming together more smoothly than it did last August. Johnson was perpetually frustrated with the offense, and its sloppiness spilled into the regular season.
Johnson believed his confrontational, unfiltered style was a “shock to the system” in his first training camp with Williams, and that’s not surprising given the more understated and even timid, at times, approach by Eberflus and former offensive coordinator Shane Waldron.
While those two seemed deferential to Williams, Johnson coached him like a rookie. He’s still doing a version of that because the fact remains that Williams is young, unproven and has lagged in some of the basic elements of quarterback play, but it’s more collaborative and less like scolding.
“There’s still a level of detail and we’re certainly very demanding of him, yet when I see the progress being made… I haven’t been quite as stern with my delivery,” Johnson told the Sun-Times. “When you see [players’] commitment coming into the building every day, studying the playbook, knowing their assignments, you don’t have to be as hard on them.”
That affirmation carries a more weight than when previous coaches touted supposed progress on the practice fields at Halas Hall. Those coaches still hesitated about Mitch Trubisky and Justin Fields at times, and Johnson has earned some credibility by refusing to sugarcoat anything publicly.
He also comes to work every day with wild ambition, and he wouldn’t tolerate anything short of total commitment from Williams to those same goals. Johnson doesn’t merely want to win. He wants to be overwhelming.
“[Everyone says their] goal is to win the Super Bowl; I want more than that,” Johnson said in an interview with The Athletic. “I want to have the highest-scoring offense ever, which happens to be the 2013 Denver Broncos.
“I want to surpass them. I want shutouts. I want blowouts.”
Those Broncos averaged 37.9 points per game, though they lost Super Bowl XLVIII to the Seahawks. The Bears were ninth in the league at 25.9 last season, so there’s a lot of ground to cover. Developing Williams into a complete quarterback and not just a highlight machine is the key to chasing that record.
Johnson isn’t going to back off that any more than he’s going to with his mandate that Williams completes 70% of his passes. It’s not a suggestion.
That starts now, and everything about Williams’ preparation has improved since the Bears hired Johnson, as well as signing longtime backup quarterback Case Keenum to serve as a mentor. He’s no longer “drowning” while trying to catch up to Johnson’s offense and has the bandwidth to focus on refining his routine.
“My process is better,” Williams said, listing off everything from what he eats before practice to how to be prepared for meetings and walk-throughs. “Being able to be in control of that, know my own schedule, know what’s going on, and then just knowing the offense and being more detailed about it has helped me tremendously.”
Those are tiny steps, but they’re the only ones he can take at the moment with the season far in the distance. The Bears’ hope is that he takes enough of them between now and then to make a meaningful, noticeable difference when the real games resume.
