Caleb Williams didn't talk, but Ben Johnson talks about writing a new Bears story

New York Times

22-05-2025

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Ben Johnson has a pretty good alibi about why he's not responsible for all the issues Carl and Caleb Williams had with the Chicago Bears before and after they drafted him.
'I wasn't here last year, so I can't speak too much in terms of what it was like before he got here and when he got here last year,' Johnson said in part of his opening statement after Wednesday's OTA practice at Halas Hall.
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He could've added: 'Why do you think they're paying me $13 million a year?'
Johnson, the new Bears coach dealing with stories about the past, began his statement by noting, with a slight smile, 'It's come to my attention that the quarterback has been out in the media over the last week.'
It was a nice touch. But it would have been better if Williams had actually spoken too. The quarterback wasn't one of a handful of players who addressed reporters, despite being the only one we really needed to hear from.
This smacks of the classic PR strategy of avoidance, which always works in a market like Chicago for a team like the Bears. The questions will still be there when Williams talks in two weeks.
Last week, Williams found himself the main character in the NFL after ESPN writer Seth Wickersham dropped an excerpt from his forthcoming book, 'American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback.' In that story on ESPN's website, it was revealed that, as rumored in the past, Williams and his father, Carl, desperately wanted to avoid the Bears, who had the No. 1 pick, and even tried to look at ways to circumvent the NFL Draft process.
A lot of this stuff had been hinted at or rumored in various mediums over the past year, but it was jarring for some to see it in print. It certainly made for good sports-talk fodder, and I hope it sells books in Chicago for Wickersham, one of the best football writers of this era.
A pertinent nugget from the story was that Carl Williams told Wickersham that his son wasn't getting much guidance in the film room last season. 'No one tells me what to watch,' Williams told his dad, according to the story. 'I just turn it on.'
It's important to remember that was Carl telling Wickersham what his son was feeling. That's valuable information, but while parents are great sources, I'd love to hear more clarity on that detail from Caleb himself. That is, of course, why Williams should have just talked Wednesday. We're going to write about him either way, but it makes sense to get his version out there and put the issues to rest.
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But as for not wanting to play for the Bears, do you blame them? Williams and his father should be commended for being well informed about the Bears' past and present issues.
This has been a perennially unsuccessful organization for a variety of reasons, and developing quarterbacks is at the top of the list. Williams didn't need to read our 2021 series on the sad history of Bears quarterbacks to decide this was a sketchy proposition. All he needed to do was look at the young careers of Mitch Trubisky and Justin Fields. Trubisky is a career backup, and Fields is getting this third chance with the New York Jets, the kind of job you have before you start holding a clipboard.
We knew Williams wasn't getting out of the draft and escaping the clutches of Bears general manager Ryan Poles, who had already traded the No. 1 pick the year before. Poles told him as much, according to Wickersham. The ESPN story also reveals that Williams told his father he could play for the Bears after visiting Halas Hall. Publicly, Williams has been an engaging, positive spokesperson for the team, from his upbeat, open manner with the media to the hundreds (if not thousands) of pictures he has posed for doing the bear claw gesture.
He acted like this despite Poles, following Halas Hall precedent, completely botching Williams' rookie year with the kind of mismanagement that had become team protocol. Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and head coach Matt Eberflus were fired in-season last year — a first for the organization — as the team lost 10 straight games.
Maybe everything bad about the organization has finally changed. Poles and the Bears did something completely different this offseason by spending big bucks to land the top offensive coach on the market in Johnson, who then assembled an impressive-looking coaching staff. Poles gets the blame for his mistakes, so let's give him credit for fixing one of them.
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Watching practice Wednesday illustrated everything we've heard about Johnson's coaching style. The practice was fast-paced and organized, two hours of practicing with a purpose. Former Bears receiver-turned-radio-host Tom Waddle was impressed with what he saw.
'It was crisp, it was fast-paced, the effort was there,' he said on his radio show. 'That's what this was supposed to look like.'
Don't be fooled by 'Hard Knocks.' Waddle and other ex-players who watched practices over the past two years were not wowed by how the Bears worked out under the Eberflus regime. They thought it was soft and unfocused, and it shouldn't have surprised them how things turned out.
On Wednesday, Johnson raised eyebrows, in a good way, with his upfront coaching style during the practice. He was known in Detroit for his fiery practice demeanor, and that hasn't changed now that he's the boss. One reporter described him as 'agitated' on the field, and Johnson laughed, saying that's his normal behavior.
'I'll work to get my body language under control,' he said.
As for how he's coaching his quarterback, Johnson described his style as 'kind of a combination of everything that I've been around and I've come to learn and love and appreciate.'
'It starts with developing a rapport and a trust, and that's earned over time,' he said. 'You don't walk in Day 1 and expect that to be achieved. The more time we spend together, he understands that I have his best interests at heart, and vice versa. He's going to go out there and play as well as he possibly can, not just for himself or me, but for the whole team and the city, that's really what it comes down to. We're very much aligned in terms of what we want to get done, it just takes more time on task, in terms of getting on the same page with how we're going to do it.'
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I don't think Caleb will be complaining to his father about not being coached hard enough.
Williams wasn't perfect on Wednesday. He missed some throws. He held onto the ball too long. It was just a late-May workout.
If you want to compare Williams to past Bears rookie quarterbacks, he was practically Aaron Rodgers last season. But his performance paled in comparison to the No. 2 overall pick Jayden Daniels, leading to skepticism about his future. With Johnson here now, Williams will find himself under even more scrutiny in his second season. He's got the receivers and the coaches and a mostly rebuilt offensive line. But, to be fair, there are still questions, most notably left tackle.
Braxton Jones, the veteran, wasn't at the voluntary OTA practice. His spot was manned by second-year project Kiran Amegadjie during the 11-on-11 portion of Wednesday's practice, and second-round pick Ozzy Trapilo practiced with the third team.
Everyone will be watching that position throughout the summer workouts and training camp.
Coach Johnson is speaking with the media https://t.co/YjGTQO1Fd0
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) May 21, 2025
Back to the Wickersham story. In it, Carl Williams noted that Chicago is where 'quarterbacks go to die,' riffing on the classic Muhsin Muhammad line about receivers. I'm guessing he didn't mean it literally, but his son was sacked 68 times last year. Williams needs to work on getting rid of the ball quicker, but he also needs time to show why he was the No. 1 pick.
Again, that's why they're paying Johnson $13 million, to make sure Williams not only lives but prospers.
Johnson was asked directly about Carl Williams' quote and he smirked a little in his answer.
'I love it,' he said. 'I love it. I love the opportunity to come on in and change that narrative. That's where great stories are written. We're looking to write a new chapter here, the 2025 Chicago Bears, and looking forward to the future.'
If it happens, that would certainly be a bestseller in Chicago.