LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) 鈥� Being on the cover of 鈥淢adden NFL 27鈥� and becoming more of a national celebrity after leading the to seven comeback wins last season have failed to turn the head of quarterback Caleb Williams.
At least that’s what Williams believes, and as Chicago’s minicamp ended Thursday, the third-year quarterback said there are good reasons for it. Possibly the main one is his coach, Ben Johnson.
鈥淭here鈥檚 so much to unlock, there鈥檚 so much to get better at, there鈥檚 so much left of ball for me and us and accolades that we鈥檒l have as a team and things like that,鈥� Williams said Thursday.
“And then having a good support system around me, having Ben and my teammates and things like that I got to look in the face and make sure I鈥檓 doing the right thing every single day to accomplish our goal.鈥�
Johnson鈥檚 tough love last year in training camp and the offseason helped Williams transition well to a new offense in his second season despite a poor 58.1% completion rate. Going through last year with Johnson has the Bears QB feeling miles ahead of where the team started in 2025 with a season-opening loss to the Vikings.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a hell of a lot more fun for me than it was last year just because it was 鈥� I was saying it to (running backs Eric Studesville), 鈥業 feel like I was drowning trying to breathe or stay alive and wait for a boat to come around last year,鈥欌�� Williams said. 鈥淣ow this year it鈥檚 being able to start where we finished last year, play calls and words and verbiage and speak the same language and now it鈥檚 being able to grow more from an earlier stage than maybe doing it a little bit earlier in the season or halfway through the season, speaking on things that really help throughout the year.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the advantage.鈥�
Johnson has been giving Williams daily letter grades during the offseason. The main goal is for him to improve his accuracy, which fell well short of last season’s announced goal of a 70% completion rate.
鈥淏all placement, being able to put the ball in the best position for the wide receivers, first starts with a completion and then from there you grow in the confidence from completing the ball, completion, completion, completion, and then it grows to, how can I place the ball better for these guys in these situations and moments throughout the games and practices?鈥� Williams said. 鈥淚t starts in practice. It starts with the mindset of that, and then from there you keep growing.
鈥淎nother thing for me is just always getting better with procedure, being able to see defenses pre-snap and having an idea of what they鈥檒l be in or if I need to make an adjustment. It鈥檚 always going to be those couple things for me.鈥�
How does Williams鈥� coach think he鈥檚 he doing at all of this?
鈥淚t鈥檚 been OK,鈥� Johnson said.
Johnson gave every player three points of emphasis for the summer before they left Halas Hall. He didn鈥檛 want to share exactly what they were, but it鈥檚 not difficult to imagine Williams鈥� are targeted toward accuracy.
Johnson also is not worried about Williams getting caught up in everything going on in his life off the field, like being the Madden cover boy.
鈥淲ell, it goes back to my first conversations I鈥檝e had with Caleb and those were he wants to win here in Chicago and he wants to win Super Bowls,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 really his motivating factor. He鈥檚 been very clear and consistent with that message over the last year and a half that I鈥檝e gotten to know him.鈥�
Williams called his relationship with Johnson a reason he stays grounded and has progressed.
鈥淚 think getting to the point now there鈥檚 times where he鈥檒l be saying something and it鈥檚 full agreeance and kind of finish his sentence on some of these things on his mentality and how he wants to win, how he wants to play and who our identity is going to be and being able to build towards that,鈥� Williams said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 obviously a lot more mature than me. He鈥檚 older than me by many years.
鈥淪o he brings a lot of wisdom to me. He notices things that I may not notice in the moment or things like that. So his information, his knowledge, his wisdom and things like that, it goes a long way for me and I鈥檓 110 percent in on whatever he says.鈥�
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