Caleb Williams says the obvious about his relationship with Ben Johnson, and it shows why his development shouldn’t be a major concern
It’s not going to magically come together in one week.
The 2025 season has been a rollercoaster experience for Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams in his first season under new head coach Ben Johnson and a highly-detailed offense. But, that was the expectation going into Year 1, what wasn’t expected was the Bears being 9-4 going into Week 15.
Naturally, the success the Bears have had this season has upped the urgency from the fanbase. The Bears are knocking on the door of the playoffs, and even division title, with four weeks left to go.
In the meantime, Williams’ development within the new system is still not as linear as many hoped to see at this point in the season. Truth is, it wasn’t ever going to be and it’s not something to be concerned about either.
Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson knew everything wouldn’t be perfect in one year
“I think it’s just the bond we are building,” Williams told reporters on Wednesday. “The details this offense takes, it is going to take a little more than a year to get on his level.”
As concerning as that sounds for fans on the outside, Williams is absolutely correct. It’s going to take more than one year for Williams to get on the same page with Johnson, just like what happened in Detroit when Johnson was working with quarterback Jared Goff.
Even still, Williams has taken immense strides over the course of the season and just hasn’t been able to fully put everything together in a single game. Look no further than the early game struggles against the Green Bay Packers last week and then seeing the second-half turnaround Williams had.
“I’m doing the right things, and the last bit of it something’s off,” Williams added. “And it’s either a miss or an incompletion or something, just not on the same page. So, that’s the area that I really want to get on the same page with the guys and from my side of it is doing everything right. Just sharp, sharp, sharp focus and sharping my focus even more.”
After working through multiple coaching points all season, the next major point of emphasis is starting those kind of games quicker when it comes to Williams, Johnson, and the entire offensive operation going into Week 15.
“It’s something you can practice,” Williams explained. “But it’s also something — I keep using these analogies and references — but sometimes just seeing the first basket go in and getting your first completion and seeing the pass being caught. Whatever pass it is, whether it’s a deep shot, an intermediate, short, whatever it is. Finding that first completion and getting it into your receiver’s hands or tight end and letting them go to work.”
Williams noted it only takes that first completion to get into a groove and all season Johnson has explained how it just takes that first first-down to get the ball rolling. Last week, Williams started the game 0/5 passing against the Packers and the offense was forced to punt on four of the five opening drives, including after a key interception the offense squandered on the following possession.
On the opening drive against the Packers, a holding penalty set the offense back leading to a 3rd-and-15 play in which Williams overthrew wide receiver DJ Moore on a deep pass over the middle that forced the team to punt. The second drive, a false start followed by a drop led to another 3rd-and-15 play in which Williams was forced out of the pocket and had to throw the ball away. Not ideal situations to be in and Johnson understands that.
“How can I best serve him to get him in a rhythm early in games to where we can have some strong starts to the first half,” Johnson explained on Monday. “When you’re asking your first completion to be an 18-yard dagger route, that’s not always the easiest thing.”
Even though Johnson’s knew the third-and-long play wasn’t ideal for Williams to get his first completion and get the ball rolling with a first-down, the two did manage to find a common ground when it comes to what Williams is comfortable doing.
“His feedback is, ‘You call it, and I’m going to go ahead and make it work,’ ” Johnson said on Wednesday. “That’s who he is. He doesn’t care. You want to start the game with a deep ball, go ahead and call it, and I’ll make it work. You want to start with quick game, you want to start with screen, whatever. He really doesn’t care.
“That’s really where you want your quarterback to be. I appreciate that mindset. I just want us to hit the ground running a little bit better than what we have been. We talked a week ago about the passing game needing to improve. That first half, we didn’t quite make the strides that we had hoped for over the course of the week. We’ll just go back to work again this week and get back after it again.”
It just goes to show how these two are still developing that relationship with each other. It’s going to take time to finally come together but everyone can see the pieces are starting to fall in place.
“We’re not quite there yet. We’re working diligently every day,” Johnson added on Monday. “I’ve said it every week, that you see growth in so many other areas that when that last little bit comes along, I think we’re going to be really pleased with where we are.”
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