Bear Digest

The outrageous plan Press Taylor has for dealing with Caleb Williams

Former Jaguars coordinator plans to communicate with the second-year Bears QB, unlike the way that relationship was handled in last year's Chicago offense.
Gene Chamberlain|
Former Jaguars offensive coordinator Press Taylor plans to actually talk to Caleb Williams as Bears passing game coordinator.
Former Jaguars offensive coordinator Press Taylor plans to actually talk to Caleb Williams as Bears passing game coordinator. | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

It sounds like the new Bears passing game coordinator is already going to be a step or two ahead of where former passing game coordinator Thomas Brown was when he took over the job of offensive coordinator last November.

Press Taylor, Ben Johnson's new Chicago passing game coordinator, actually will be talking to quarterback Caleb Williams. No, really.

Taylor's plan is to begin with something Williams said wasn't done much last year prior to Brown becoming the offensive coordinator. They'll talk.

If you remember, it was after the firing of offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and promotion of Brown from passing game coordinator to OC last year that Williams revealed at a press conference something startling about his relationship with the new play caller.

At least it was starling considering it was already midseason.

"We haven't really talked much throughout this time just because we haven't been in the position to be having so many conversations," Williams said.

That fog is over now and communication is the plan even for a passing game coordinator. It's a critical component, Taylor said.

"It's like that," Tayor said. "It's sitting down and talking to him. What do you feel like–what type of coaching do you feel like you get the most from, that puts you in the best possible position?

"And then a lot of it–we've all talked about this–it's kind of trial and error. Let's try something different today with the meeting. Let’s put them on edge with certain, the way we’re going to ask questions. Let's surprise them with things, vs. let's set them all up, let's see. We kind of get back together after a meeting, ‘Ok, what worked well? What did it seem like he was engaged in, receiving from?' You gotta test for knowledge to really see did that work well for us, or do we just think it did."

This has all been thought out, and discussed. It seems radical considering what was going on last year.

"So that’s going to be a whole process," Taylor said. "And that’s just anybody. When you’re starting a relationship with somebody, it’s learning them best and then you kind of tailor your approach to that person the way that you think is the best for them."

This sounds like there will be real interaction between the passing game coordinator and the QB.

None of that can hurt. It definitely didn't help when there was little last year, a situation Williams confirmed during the season.

When Taylor was named Bears passing game coordinator, there were rumblings about how things hadn't gone well for him offensive coordinator in Jacksonville last year and in some of his other stops as an assistant.

However, Taylor also had successes working with Carson Wentz in Philadelphia, was there when they won a Super Bowl, and was Jacksonville offensive coordinator when QB Trevor Lawrence led them to the playoffs in 2022 with the 10th-ranked offense and 10th highest point output.

Transition to the new staff is never the easy part for any position, particularly quarterback.

Especially with Williams, this will be important because he has a full wasted season for this new staff to cleanse from his memory.

"The hard part is, you never know the details of what's being coached, so you really just want to kind of evaluate the skillset, what traits does he bring, and then you start to notice, 'Ok he does really well with this, he doesn’t do as well with this,'" Taylor said.

That also constitutes talking and interaction.

Wow. They might be on to something here.

"You try to ask some questions to try to figure out what did you feel you struggled with, did you feel like you thrived in?’ " Taylor said. "You want to kind of go back and check the tape of, is this true? Is there a perception of certain things?

"We watched every snap though. And then same thing, we even went back and watched some college. What did he look like his last year playing, things like that? What were concepts that continually showed up that he thrived in?"

Johnson said they would build this offense around Caleb Williams. So talking to the QB is a very good place to start.

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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.