Bear Digest

Bears' 70% solution: Caleb Williams' goal for Year 1 with Ben Johnson

The Bears quarterback announced he's aiming at the Bears' yardage record, but coach Ben Johnson also has another number in mind.
Gene Chamberlain|
Caleb Williams is aiming at a few lofty numbers this year.
Caleb Williams is aiming at a few lofty numbers this year. | Chicago Bears On SI photo: Chicago Bears video

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For someone who completed 62.5% of his passes last year, Caleb Williams seems to have been entrusted with a rather difficult task by Bears coach Ben Johnson.

It's what Johnson is used to, so Williams better get there.

"We certainly have goals that we strive for, it's not a secret," said Johnson, the former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator. "I told him I would love for him this season to complete 70% of his balls.

"So, you would like to think that over the course of practice that we're completing 70% or more or that's hard to just magically arise in a game. It's a lofty goal but it's one we're going to strive for because of that we're going to use that as a benchmark and kind of work from there."

Williams was 351 of 562 last year and he threw one more personal goal on the stack Bears fans know well.

"Obviously I have self-goals," Williams said. "That’s being the first 4,000-yard passer in Bears history. That’s a goal of mine. Seventy percent completion, that helps the team keep on the field, puts us in better positions.

"And then other than that just trying to go down and score the most points that we can with each drive that we have. That’s kind of my self-goal and obviously other than that you’ve got to go win."

With Detroit last year, Johnson's quarterback Jared Goff completed a league-best 72.4%. If Williams can even approach 70% the Bears could count it as a success. The team record is 67% by Mitchell Trubisky.

Williams says he has a good idea how he's going to accomplish these numbers.

"Be consistent," he said. "That’s first and foremost. Be consistent. Be disciplined to my rules and then other than that lead, encouraging. Part of that is leading by example and the other half is you know when things are messing up or like I said, people are complaining, I’m complaining, like fixing that mindset because that’s a big part of our success is our mindset."

Of course, this part will be part of Williams' progress under Johnson. They've already talked a lot about body language and leadership. It's going to be a day-to-day process, Johnson said.

"It goes back to getting to know each other," Johnson said. "In the springtime, we saturated everybody, quarterback, everybody on offense got a lot of information. We're just trying to introduce a lot of elements of the system.

"When you look back at it, there's probably some things that you wouldn't run against (Dennis Allen's Bears) defense that we just wanted to get introduced. Going into camp, it's going to be a lot here early on. These first two weeks, we're still going to do a lot. And it's not so much to attack the defense or anything like that. We got to find out who we are and I'm going beyond just the quarterback here."

There's finding out their best blocking schemes, sorting through the running back situation and looking at the rookie receivers.

More than anything else, there is getting reps at practice so they're polished for the Vikings in the opener.

"I just hope we can, in six weeks, get enough reps to feel good going into Week 1," Johnson said. "That’s the challenge.

"This is a race now. Like everything is a race. We have to get our fundamentals down. We have to get our execution down. This is going to be a challenge. Certainly for the first year with new systems on both sides of the ball. That’s the fun part of it too, now. That’s the challenge we want. And it’s going to be some hard work."

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.