Bear Digest

Caleb Williams sees himself 'rolling' now in Ben Johnson's offense

The Bears QB had another practice without turnovers and sees his understanding of the offense increasing daily.
Gene Chamberlain|
Caleb Williams throws on the run prior to training camp practice.
Caleb Williams throws on the run prior to training camp practice. | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

Bears quarterback Caleb Williams describes a situation with the Ben Johnson offense where the worst might be behind him.

Williams said after Wednesday's practice he's feeling as comfortable as he has with the offense now and maybe a good example of this is how he has gone consecutive practices without throwing an interception, although it was a lighter workout.

"I think as of right now I think I'm rolling," Williams said. "I'm pretty smooth with it as of right now."

Williams doesn't describe his knowledge and comfort as perfect.

"Obviously you want to be 100 percent when you're out there with the calls and hearing it," William said.

However, he thinks he has understanding to the point where he knows what the play is as soon as he starts to hear it from Johnson.

"It comes down to just a little bit more studying, it comes down to a little bit more practicing, a lot more reps and things like that over time," Williams said. "So I think that's where it is right now. We're going to keep progressing, and I'm going to keep progressing and getting after it."

It's not just Williams but the entire offense working together through reps that will make it all function properly. His biggest cheer from the fans Wednesday came for a touchdown run he made and not a pass, but the passing game is clicking more often.

"I think right now I'm doing well with the process, whether that's before the snap, whether it's after the snap whether it's footwork, all these different things," Williams said. "Protecting the football these last couple of practices has been key and important.

"It's important in any season, in any moment."

Williams has had to work through plenty since the offseason began, and getting into his second offense in two years has been enough to make progress difficult.

"Everything’s been, put all the base stuff in, rep those, rep those, rep those," Williams said. "Every once in a while we add a small wrinkle in that we can add to our game and our package and our repertoire when we’re out there."

This explains some of the slower going in initial practices. As new wrinkles are added, he has found more ways to get the ball out against the first-team defense.

It doesn't always work. In Wednesday's practice during red zone 11-on-11, he was sacked by Montez Sweat after holding the ball looking to find a receiver

Johnson said there hasn't been much of a carryover from last year's offense to this one. This can't help, with a QB as young as Williams, and even he had to agree.

"Yeah, every year is going to be a start-fresh year in that sense," Williams said. "But with Ben, him and I are going to be here for a while, which is the plan. There’s going to be carryover from now on.

"It’s different. It’s a new playbook. Different terminology. Different reads. Different footwork. Different things like that. So, it’s a lot, still going to always be a lot. That’s part of playing this position. Being able to go out there and handle it all is what we get paid to do. It’s our job."

The work continues. The first-team offense struggled in the red zone again Wednesday, but did so without turnovers.

Getting more players back healthy and working has helped. First it was Colston Loveland and on Wednesday rookie Luther Burden III made a brilliant catch in tight coverage in the red zone after having his own problems lining up following inactivity from an injury earlier in camp.

"That's been my goal is have all 11 guys on the same page, rolling off the ball," Williams said. "I think we need to get a little bit better at rolling off the ball together.

"And that's partly me. And then other than that just everybody not thinking too much. And let's face it, we've got a lot going on. (Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen) throws a lot of different looks at us. And so I think just getting to the point where we're not thinking and it's unconscious, and we're just rolling."

Williams stepped back and looked at where he's been.

"They've installed a lot," he said of the offense. "OTAs and now, and just seeing how much I can retain.

"I take pride in trying to retain it all, every single detail that we have."

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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.