How Bears' Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams will build connection

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13 hours ago

In order for the Chicago Bears to be successful this season, there is going to have an inseparable bond between head coach Ben Johnson and second-year quarterback Caleb Williams.
That bond and connection is one of the main reasons why Johnson was hired by Chicago, given his offensive intellect and ability to get the most out of his quarterbacks, which he'll now look to do with Williams.
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Following his introductory press conference as the new head coach, Johnson and general manager Ryan Poles spoke about rebuilding Williams from the ground up. Although he had a decent individual statistical season, Williams was held back by coaching malpractice and an overall bad season amid a 5-12 record, including a 10-game losing streak.
Johnson recently discussed the importance of the relationship between play-caller and quarterback.
"I think it goes beyond that, for me," Johnson said. "I brought up (Ryan) Tannehill before, it started with him, and then we had a number of guys that were in that quarterback room in Miami, different quarterback coaches, different play callers. Same thing in Detroit, whether it was (Matthew) Stafford or (Jared) Goff, different guys. You pick different things up out of all of them. I think there needs to be, you use the word accountability, it's like that for every position, but certainly that position. You have to be able to tell them when it's good and when it's not good enough, in front of their peers. We spend a lot of time together, one-on-one, as well.
"Some of the best things that I did when I became the coordinator was the quarterback and the play-caller need to see the play exactly the same. You don't develop that trust unless you spend a lot of time together. For whatever reason, if you do it in the room with all the other quarterbacks, sometimes you can get a little defensive, whereas when it's one-on-one, the truth can can come out and no one's feelings are going to get hurt and each person can speak the truth. I guess those are some of the things that I have learned over the years."
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Understanding not only a quarterback's skillset but their personality and how to communicate with be key for Johnson and Williams' working relationship. There was plenty of conversation around the negative discourse between Williams and the coaching staff in his rookie season, but Johnson's arrival has reenergized the franchise with the hope that he can build Williams into a long-term franchise staple.
This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: How Bears' Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams will build connection