LAKE FOREST, Ill. (670 The Score) – In studying up on his new team this offseason, first-year Bears head coach Ben Johnson noticed something concerning with quarterback Caleb Williams.
Throughout the course of a challenging rookie campaign in 2024 – one in which the Bears lost 10 straight games and went 5-12 – Williams' body language sometimes reflected his team's struggles. In Johnson's mind, it wasn't the look of a leader.
Johnson has addressed that with the 24-year-old Williams as they move forward in their first year together.
"There's adversity that's going to hit every team every season." Johnson said Wednesday. "You don't know when it's going to happen. We might lose a few games. We might have some turnovers, and yet, just the wherewithal — we're steering the ship, we're going the right direction, it's not 'woe is me.' We are going to take everyone around us, we're going to elevate them and we're going to look to forge ahead to what's next. And so, it's not dwelling on the past. Whether it's last season, last play, last game, we learn from it, we grow and we move on. Our body language needs to reflect that as well.
"It's like, 'Do we really want to? Is this what we want to look like or not?' We come to an agreement, 'No, it's not, OK, we learn from it, we move on to the next thing.' Body language is a huge thing. Demeanor. We don't want to be a palms-up team where we're questioning everything. No, no, no – to me that's a little bit of a sign of weakness. We don't want to exhibit that from anybody on the team.”
Williams threw for 3,541 yards, 20 touchdowns and six interceptions while starting all 17 games as a rookie last season. The Bears started 4-2 before losing 10 straight games.
The Bears fired head coach Matt Eberflus in late November of last season, marking the first time in franchise history that they dismissed a head coach in the middle of a season.
The Bears tabbed Johnson as their new head coach on Jan. 21, selecting him in large part because of the belief that he’ll connect well with Williams.
Chris Emma covers the Bears, Chicago’s sports scene and more for 670TheScore.com. Follow him on Twitter @CEmma670.