Windy City Gridiron
The Chicago Bears reported for training camp today, and with that came a few press conferences. General manager Ryan Poles, head coach Ben Johnson, and defensive tackle Grady Jarrett spoke back to back to back this afternoon, and you can catch some highlights of that in Bryan Orenchuk’s article here.
Quarterback Caleb Williams took the podium a little later, and while his press conference wasn’t streamed live, it has since been shared on the team’s YouTube channel.
In his presser, Ben Johnson talked about the high expectations they have for Williams, and Williams echoed that sentiment when he met the media.
“Obviously, I have self-goals. Being the first 4,000-yard passer in Bears history, that’s a goal of mine,” Williams said. “Seventy-percent completion, that helps the team, keeps us on the field, puts us in better positions. And then other than that, just trying to go down and score the most points that we can with each drive that we have. That’s kind of my self-goal, and obviously, other than that, you’ve got to go win. That’s success for me. That’s success for the team. That’s all we wish for, and I wish for.”
Johnson also mentioned he’d like Williams to complete 70% of his passes, so it’s obviously been a point of emphasis when the two have talked.
The single-season record for completion percentage in team history is held by Mitchell Trubisky in 2020 at 67%, so Caleb is shooting for a couple of franchise marks.
The relationship between a head coach and quarterback is an important one, but there’s an extra layer of importance when the head coach is also the play-caller.
“It’s been growing, it’s been awesome. We’ve been having fun,” Williams said of his relationship with Johnson. “He gets on me, and it’s greatly appreciated that he does. Being tough on me and realizing and understanding that nobody is above anybody; all of us are one.”
Ben Johnson said he gave Caleb Williams some homework/guidelines to work on over the break. That entailed:
-Spending 30-40 minutes to an hour a day in the playbook. Williams: “If you can’t give up an hour or 30 minutes to go over your playbook, you probably shouldn’t be in this position.”
-Footwork. Williams noted how his footwork is going to be key for his sack numbers coming down (lining up his footwork with the timing of the play).
-Working on short throws to his left that he missed during OTAs
Williams didn’t get the coaching he craved as a rookie, but that’s not going to be a problem this season.
“The governor is off,” Johnson said of where Caleb is after the offseason workouts. “He and I have been talking all spring, all summer, constant phone calls, constant conversations. I think we’re in a great place and he wants to get coached hard, and we’re going to push him as hard as we can and do what is right for the team.”
Johnson had...
