Bears QB Caleb Williams' 2nd training camp is another chance at a first impression
The day the Bears began training camp last year, quarterback Caleb Williams said he was prepared for the ups and downs of his rookie season.
“I understand it’s Year 1,” he said then. “There’s going to be times it's going to be tough. Times are going to be good. Tough times, you keep going. Good times, you also keep going.”
He didn’t know the half of it.
Williams took 99% of the snaps in a season in which the Bears lost 10 straight games and made Matt Eberflus the first head coach in franchise history to be fired midseason. Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron was dismissed, cornerback Tyrique Stevenson made a fool of himself on a Hail Mary completion and Williams came close to becoming the most-sacked quarterback in NFL history.
This week, Williams gets his second chance. Tuesday, Bears veterans will report to Halas Hall, where Williams is expected to be among the players — along with coach Ben Johnson and general manager Ryan Poles — to speak to the media. The Bears hold their first training camp practice Wednesday.
The stakes, this week and beyond, are gigantic.
For Williams, this season is not a do-over. There were too many mistakes last year — by franchise and quarterback alike — to afford that sort of grace. Instead, the quarterback’s second season is a prove-it year for all involved — Williams, Johnson and a Bears front office that greenlit both acquisitions.
The clock, amazingly, is ticking. The Bears have two years to find out exactly what Williams can do — NFL teams are allowed to extend rookie contracts after the player’s third season.
As much as the Bears believe in Williams, the stats don’t lie. He was 25th in passer rating among quarterbacks with at least 100 throws last year. The Bears finished last in yards and fifth-to-last in points. Do it again this year — particularly while Jayden Daniels stars for Williams’ hometown Commanders — and the Bears will have to answer existential questions about their quarterback and new head coach. Fans might, too, cognizant that Williams and his father once debated trying to steer him to the division rival Vikings in the weeks before the 2024 NFL draft.
If Williams blossoms under Johnson, though, the Bears could boast of having their quarterback-coach combination in place for the next decade. If he stays healthy this year, Williams could become the first Bears quarterback to ever throw for 4,000 yards in a season. Even in last year’s circus, he threw for 3,541.
It’s easy to blame Eberflus and Waldron for Williams’ lost rookie year. The only way to prove that they were at fault, though, is for Williams to be markedly, undeniably better.
The Bears spent their offseason building around Williams, starting by doubling their head coaching salary to help lure Johnson. In signing center Drew Dalman and trading for guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson — and then giving them new contracts — the Bears invested heavily in protecting their quarterback. They were second-to-last in offensive line spending last year, per Over the Cap, and are eighth this year.
Poles built his draft around Williams, too, using his first-round pick on tight end Colston Loveland and his first of three second-rounders on wide receiver Luther Burden even though the Bears had depth at both spots. His second of three second-round picks, tackle Ozzy Trapilo, could protect Williams’ blindside if he can beat out the rehabbing Braxton Jones.
The Bears, of course, thought they had built around Williams at this time last year. By the end of training camp, cracks were already starting to show. Players begged Waldron to be coached harder. Newly acquired receiver Keenan Allen, considered one of the greatest route runners in the league, couldn’t get in sync with Williams. The quarterback’s accuracy lacked, particularly on deep passes.
Williams was a rookie last year. By the middle of the season, he was a rookie on a sinking ship, whether he knew it or not.
“It wasn’t at a point where I looked at it and was like, ‘I knew this would happen,’” Williams said. “Nobody I think would sit back and, especially after you go 4-2 in the first six weeks, you don’t sit back and wonder and ponder on the bad.”
The Bears spent the offseason trying to get rid of the bad. This is the year where they find out just how good Williams can be.
Johnson believes he's laid the groundwork.
“I feel pretty confident, [with] the things he’s put on tape, that we can go ahead and get after it a little bit,” Johnson said.
NOTE: The Bears worked out six players, including veteran wide receiver D.J. Chark. A Pro Bowl player with the Jaguars in 2019, Chark had 502 receiving yards for Johnson’s Lions in 2022. He played for the Panthers in 2023 and had only four catches for the Chargers last year.