When Ben Johnson became the Chicago Bears' head coach, the decision landed as an automatic endorsement of quarterback Caleb Williams. Otherwise, he would have stayed with the Detroit Lions as their offensive coordinator or taken a different head coaching opportunity.
Williams is the exact antithesis of the quarterback Johnson left in Detroit, Jared Goff. But Johnson knew that coming in, and clearly looked forward to molding the 2024 No. 1overall pick's physical tools into a more polished quarterback.
The process has come with the expected ups and downs, even now 10 games into the season. But as Williams used his mobility more effectively recently, Johnson has generally praised his quarterback's ability to make off-schedule plays.
It's also fair to say Johnson is still adjusting to having a quarterback who can do those kind of things when plays break down, which is fine and expected.
Anonymous coach reaches to try to drive wedge between Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson
In his "Pick Six" column for Week 11, Mike Sando of The Athletic took a look at how Johnson and Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell are navigating their respective quarterback situations after facing each other a second time this season.
"Johnson, 7-3 in his first season as Chicago's coach, has shown relatively tough love publicly for Caleb Williams, the precocious No. 1 pick he inherited. He challenged Williams' body language in the offseason. When the media asked about an exciting comeback victory over Cincinnati in Week 9, Johnson tempered the enthusiasm by noting that playing "within the rhythm and the timing of the concepts" is the goal for his young quarterback, who reportedly resisted coaching under a less empowered staff last season."
As is common in pieces like this, an opposing coach hid behind anonymity to freely offer Sando an opinion about Johnson and Williams.
"To be honest with you, I think Ben is frustrated with him," an opposing defensive coach said. "Caleb doesn't play on time and doesn't do the things that allow that offense to get to the next level that Ben is used to. Ben was able to scheme up max-protection things for Jared (Goff) in Detroit and run guys open. This guy can't do that, so now it is all (off-schedule) ball, which is uncontrollable for a coach."
Yes, Williams still has work to do to become a better "on-schedule" pocket passer, and getting him there is Johnson's primary objective. Williams has also, by all accounts, been receptive to hard coaching, and Johnson seemingly has become more open to seeing his quarterback use the tools he has when plays go awry.
Johnson has not sugarcoated anything with Williams during the season, including the quote Sando shared. But an anonymous "opposing defensive coach" offering a definitive take about a coach-quarterback dynamic he can't really know anything about is a step too far.
The veil of anonymity was said to have been offered to the coach in order to provide his take on how Williams frustrates Johnson, but it may not have ultimately kept him anonymous.
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After all, there is an "opposing defensive coach" the Bears faced earlier this season who may have an axe to grind. Particularly, in hindsight, against Williams.