One thing has been very clear between Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams and head coach Ben Johnson, and that’s why things would be a bit rocky; the potential for the two to work well together is through the roof.
Williams and Johnson showed that, after just their first season working together, they were able to lead the Bears to 11 wins, an NFC North division title, and an NFC Wild Card win over the Green Bay Packers. While appearing on “Pardon My Take,” Williams opened up about their working relationship and how often they meet in the regular season and offseason.
“Depends on the time of the offseason,” Williams said. “This past OTAs minicamp, we ended up meeting at the end of the week. Any questions, anything like that, I can obviously always ask him, but we end up meeting at the end of the week, and we go through the whole week, and what we're preparing for next week. And then during the season, we meet every day.”
Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson’s QB-HC relationship is different from others
It’s not common to hear a head coach and quarterback meet as much as they do, but Johnson has made it a personal mission to make sure Williams lives up to the expectations needed. Paying that kind of attention to work with him shows that Johnson takes it seriously, and at the same time, Williams isn’t messing around with his development.
Williams also shared about how long these meetings are going.
“They could be from an hour-30 (minutes) to two hours and 30 (minutes) at the end of the night.”
These long sessions are important for the two to break down the tape and make sure they are on the same page. Williams values the time he and Johnson have together to get this thing on the right path.
“I learned a ton. Anything he says, you go out there, and you do, and you practice it, you work on it, it's on your conscious, and you're conscious of it, and you go out there and rep them and, get these reps in, and it pays off. And so, those meetings are really important to me and really important to him.”
Bears fans will not complain about these meetings because they are showing that they are paying off in a big way. Williams broke the franchise record for passing yards in a season with 3,942 yards and holds the NFL record for most comeback and game-winning drives in one season with seven. It helps that he is also pacing for an NFL record for interception percentage in a career, as he has thrown interceptions in 1.1% of his passes.
Of course, the elephant in the room is accuracy and how it must improve. Last season, Johnson chalked that up to Williams taking on more responsibilities with calls and learning the playbook, so that should change this season as the young quarterback is more comfortable with Johnson’s scheme. Williams completed roughly 58% of his passes last season, which is down from the 62% he had in his rookie year in 2024.
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While this may not be perfect right now, it’s clear that Johnson’s coaching is getting through to Williams and the two are working well together. 2026 will only bring out the best in Williams and should lead to an MVP-caliber year.
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